The National Symphony Orchestra musicians’ union announced Monday that they authorized a strike, complaining that their six-figure incomes are no longer enough to afford rising living costs in the District.
The unanimous vote Friday by members of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710 could force the cancellation of three opening-week concerts featuring Sara Bareilles and Saturday’s season-starting gala concert.
It comes after months of contract negotiations with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts stalled over musicians’ complaints that they earn less than orchestra members in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia.
”That pay disparity, combined with the high cost of living in the D.C. area, makes it harder for the NSO to attract and retain talent commensurate with the reputation of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center itself as a premier performance venue,” the American Federation of Musicians wrote in a Tuesday post on X.
The Kennedy Center and NSO leaders have offered musicians a new contract that would raise their pay by 12% over the next four years. It includes improved medical coverage and paid parental leave.
That deal would bump up the minimum base salary of musicians to $178,840 annually, with the average performer taking home $209,325.
The musicians say that’s not enough. They have demanded a 25% increase, pointing to a 15% decline in real wages over the past five years and income lost during 18 months of pandemic closures when the center paid them 65% of their salaries.
In a statement Tuesday, the Kennedy Center pointed out that the venue “had zero earned ticket income” during the shutdown and said “financial realities projected through 2028” justified the 12% offer.
“The musicians’ demand for a 25% wage increase is not financially viable,” the Kennedy Center said.
It added that the NSO musicians are already “among the most highly compensated orchestras in the country.”
The statement said two other orchestras operating at the center, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the Washington National Opera Orchestra, recently agreed to contracts similar to the 12% increase.
Under their current contract, NSO musicians receive an average annual salary of $186,000 and eight weeks of paid time off yearly. The orchestra operates on a $50 million to $60 million annual budget.
The contract dispute comes as hundreds of thousands of unionized medical, entertainment, education, transportation and service industry workers have walked off the job since the end of pandemic restrictions.
Aided by pro-union policies from the Biden-Harris administration and favorable public opinion, most have cited inflation as their reason for demanding more money.
Last month, the Gallup poll reported that labor unions registered a 70% approval rating nationwide, a 57-year high; 23% of adults said they disapproved of unions, the lowest since 1967.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.