Musicians reject vote on offer by symphony

ST. LOUIS -- Musicians with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on Friday agreed overwhelmingly against voting on management's latest contract offer, instructing the union negotiating committee to return to the bargaining table.

Union leaders told musicians the offer was far from satisfactory and musicians agreed, said Jan Gippo, a piccolo player who heads the negotiating committee for the musicians.

The symphony, considered by many to be among the best in the nation, has been shut down since Jan. 3, when musicians voted 85-3 against a contract proposal. Several concerts have since been canceled.

Gippo said the latest offer is slightly better than the first one, but still falls well short of bringing musician pay up to standard for the industry.

Under the contract rejected in January, musicians would have taken a pay cut. Under the latest proposal, Gippo said they would get a 1 percent increase per year over the four-year deal, raising average pay to about $76,000.

By comparison, Gippo said, the average musician with the San Francisco Symphony earns $106,000.

"If the core of this orchestra goes away, we will not be able to bring it back because the money is not there," Gippo said.

The two sides met for 14 hours Thursday with a federal mediator and appeared to be closing in on an agreement, Gippo said. Then, suddenly, management retracted some agreements that had been reached earlier in the evening, he said.

"We almost had a deal," Gippo said. "It was so close, and then right at the last minute they said they had misunderstood something we thought we had agreed upon."

Symphony spokesman Jeff Trammel wouldn't comment on specifics of the negotiations, saying only that "some definite progress was made." He called the offer "reasonable and fair."

Trammel said symphony president Randy Adams would discuss the matter at a news conference scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Gippo said the strike is difficult for the musicians financially and artistically.

"It's very tough on everyone," he said. "There are a lot of people who have gone off to other orchestras to be substitutes. We still don't believe they [management] get it."

The work stoppage is the orchestra's first since a 42-day strike in 1979.

The symphony, the nation's second-oldest, dates to 1880. It has won six Grammy awards and garnered 56 nominations.