Met Opera: Of Course The Unions Blinked
The Metropolitan Opera and two of its unions have agreed to hire an independent financial analyst to assess the company’s finances, postponing a threatened lockout by another week, officials said over the weekend. You really thought the union members, complaining with some legitimacy about proposed paycuts, would take the first step toward losing their jobs and their place of business? Hah! Where else can the chorus members and stagehands and orchestra players, all of them first-rate, make their $150,000 or $200,000 a year salaries (plus benefits)? If the opera company folded, the Met’s top brass such as Peter Gelb will always find a plush place to land. Where would the musicians go that is nearly as cozy?
