Philharmonic grants union’s request to extend deadline for response to best and final offer

Fort Wayne, IN (January 11, 2023) — After a lengthy bargaining session on Tuesday, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic agreed to grant the Local 58, Fort Wayne Musicians Association union representatives an extension beyond the 11 p.m. deadline for accepting or rejecting the Philharmonic’s best and final offer for a new 4-year contract.

Late Tuesday night, union representatives asked management if it would extend the deadline to 9:15 p.m. today (Wednesday) to enable Musicians to meet in person to consider the offer. The Philharmonic leadership agreed to the deadline extension in hopes of creating more opportunity for a settlement that would end the strike and return music to the Philharmonic stage.

If Musicians reject the best and final offer or do not respond by the extended deadline, the Philharmonic must cancel all concerts and community engagement events in January and February due to the required logistics and planning time.

The Philharmonic will continue keeping its patrons and ticketholders up to date on developments as they are available.