Met Opera locks out stagehands while New York Philharmonic musicians take major pay cuts
Two of the best known musical organizations in the US and worldwide have stepped up their efforts to make the musicians and staff pay for the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Metropolitan Opera in New York announced a lockout of the opera’s stagehands, members of Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, as of midnight on Monday. The opera has been demanding pay cuts of 30 percent, only half of which would be restored even after the company returns to pre-coronavirus revenue levels. The pandemic forced the Met to close its doors last March.