Atlanta Symphony Labor Talks Approach Nervous Crescendo

In news that has an aura of deja-vu about it, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and its musicians have been in contract talks for eight months and are now approaching a September 6 deadline that is prompting murmurs of an impasse.

It was at this time in 2012 that the orchestra – battling a projected $5 million budget deficit and mounting debt – hit a stalemate and locked out its musicians for four weeks. When two sides settled, musicians agreed to a two-year contract that included a 16 percent pay cut; the length of the season was reduced and the size of the orchestra trimmed, from 93 to 88 players. more