Edited September 20 to include picket line schedule and more context.
AGMA Choristers of the San Francisco Symphony have officially gone on strike following months of Symphony management proposing drastic and unfair cuts to the Chorus.
As of September 19, AGMA Choristers will withhold their labor until a fair agreement is reached. Despite AGMA’s continued efforts to bargain this weekend and avoid a full program shutdown, the Symphony has refused to meet and canceled the three-day run of Verdi's Requiem, the season opener.
Anyone in the San Francisco Area is invited to join us on the picket line! Find us Friday (tonight) and Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. PT along Grove Street in front of Davies Symphony Hall.
For background, on the evening of September 16, AGMA leadership and the AGMA members of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. The Choristers voted 100% in favor of the authorization. 98.1% of eligible members participated in the vote, and 81.1% of the unpaid singers from the Verdi Requiem Chorus have pledged to honor an AGMA picket line.
Despite the strike vote, management persisted in pushing for unsustainable and disproportionate cuts to the Chorus, even in light of their growing $333 million endowment. Management’s actions in these negotiations have been nothing short of alarming. They began by proposing 80% cuts to the Chorus over a 5-year agreement, then went down to 65% over 3 years. Then, they proposed a complete pay freeze for 2024/2025 followed by a drastic 10% pay cut in 2025/26.
In a good faith effort to find common ground, AGMA countered with a 9% reduction for this year, followed by a return to the 2023/2024 rate—what the Chorus is already working under with the expired agreement. But management balked, claiming they couldn’t guarantee paying the same rate in the second year, despite it being management’s own proposal in reverse. Now, they’re offering a one-year freeze for 2024/25 with zero commitments for the future.
“Nothing has significantly changed in the Symphony’s financial position from previous years besides the attitude of management toward its core artistic labor. The AGMA Board of Governors and Artists around the country stand firmly behind all the Choristers of the San Francisco Symphony,” said AGMA President Ned Hanlon. “I cannot recall the last time AGMA went on strike, but management has repeatedly failed to show how targeting the Symphony’s internationally acclaimed Choristers will solve their alleged financial issues. We urge management to immediately return to the bargaining table and work toward a real solution that honors the work of these dedicated artists and gets everyone back to creating beautiful music.”
The AGMA Negotiating Committee also issued a statement: “We did not take the decision to strike lightly. We would much rather be opening the season! But our goal has always been to protect the rights of the AGMA Choristers and secure a contract that allows us to continue to thrive artistically and financially. Management's refusal to meet us in these basic terms leaves us no other choice but to strike.”
AGMA remains committed to reaching an agreement and stands ready to resume negotiations as soon as Symphony management presents a fair and reasonable proposal.
Allison Beck, Interim National Executive Director, whom the AGMA Board of Governors authorized to call the strike in coordination with the Negotiating Committee, stated, "Last year, the Company pushed for essentially a one-year wage freeze, assuring us they’d have the necessary information to negotiate a multi-year agreement this year. Instead, when we began negotiations in May, they demanded an 80% wage cut for the chorus. Now, they've repackaged the same one-year freeze and are trying to sell it to us as something new. We’re not falling for that again.”