ELLA ABBOTT / WBOI
Fort Wayne Philharmonic musicians announced Friday they would not vote in favor of a contract that “contains permanent cuts” to wages or conditions.
The Fort Wayne Philharmonic announced Tuesday it would need to begin canceling summer concerts if an agreement with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Players Association could not be made by Friday.
The announcement came hours after musicians met on the Allen County Courthouse Green to show the results of their letter writing campaign. Musicians unfurled five rolls of taped together letters to the Philharmonic board about 1300 letters in total.
Negotiations between management and the musician’s union have been ongoing since last fall, a few months after musicians were furloughed by management due to the ongoing pandemic.
Year later, effects from local protests still felt | Police/Fire
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Michelle Davies | The Journal Gazette
On Friday at the Allen County Courthouse, Tomer Marcus, a violinist with Musicians of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, along with other musicians and supporters display some of the more than 1,000 letters of support they received.
Michelle Davies | The Journal Gazette
Luke Fitzpatrick, a flautist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, helps string together approximately 1,000 petitions that were the result of a public letter-writing campaign Friday morning at the Allen County Courthouse.
Michelle Davies | The Journal Gazette
Johanna Bourkova-Morunov, violinist and associate concert master with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, helps string together approximately 1,000 petitions that were the result of a public letter-writing campaign Friday morning at the Allen County Courthouse.
ELLA ABBOTT / WBOI
Fort Wayne Philharmonic Musicians held a rally with supporters to ‘restore the music’ on the Allen County Courthouse Green on Saturday, another protest of management’s treatment of musicians over the past year.
Several speakers from both around the community and the country came to show support for the musicians, decrying management’s use of the pandemic to furlough musicians.
Ray Hair is the International President of the American Federation of Musicians. He pointed to orchestras in Columbus, Ohio and Chicago where management worked with musicians to keep working during the pandemic.
“The majority of American symphonic institutions saw their obligations to their communities to sustain their orchestras and continue to care for musicians while the pandemic raged and ravaged all of our lives,” Hair said.
Verbatim: Philharmonic musicians plan May 1 rally
Musicians of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic issued the following Thursday, April 29, 2021 –
Musicians of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic have announced the lineup of guest speakers for their May Day Rally to Restore Music scheduled for 1 PM Saturday, May 1, 2021 at the Allen County Courthouse Green in downtown Fort Wayne.
Ray Hair, International President of the American Federation of Musicians, will be the Keynote Speaker.
Additional guest speakers include Christopher Guerin, Fort Wayne Philharmonic CEO, 1985-2005; The Reverend Dr. Fred Hasecke, Pastor Emeritus, Trinity English Lutheran Church; Fort Wayne City Councilwoman Sharon Tucker; John Michael Smith, President, Regional Orchestra Players Association (ROPA); and Paul Austin, President, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM).
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