The Metropolitan Opera has reached a tentative agreement for a new contract with the union that represents its stagehands, increasing the likelihood that the company will return to the stage in September after its longest-ever shutdown. The union and the company declined to share details of the deal, which must be voted on by the union’s members. The company’s roughly 300 stagehands were locked out late last year because of a disagreement over how long and lasting pandemic pay cuts would be. The Met, which has said that it has lost more than $150 million in earned revenues since the pandemic forced it to close in March 2020, has asked for significant cuts to the take-home pay of the members of its unions. Union leaders have resisted the proposed cuts, arguing that many of its members already went many months without pay.

Source: International New York Times July 04, 2021 15:56 UTC