NY Met Opera Threatened By Labor Unions

[From article]
The storied but precarious institution could see its next season disrupted in the labor discord. The Met's general manager, Peter Gelb, warns that without union flexibility, the very existence of the world-famous, 130-year-old opera is at risk.
Well, if worst came to worst, at least the Met's singers and musicians could make a go of it at the New York City Opera. No, wait, it shut its doors for the last time last year.
It doesn't take an opera aficionado to realize that the 21st century isn't the 19th, and opera is an embattled art form. Unfortunately, the Met is locking horns with a force, the unions, that has proven adept at helping to drive struggling industries into the ground.
A New York Times editorial recently noted that orchestra members, who on average make $200,000 a year, get 16 weeks off with pay. The American Federation of Musicians Local 802 shot back that it is really only 10 weeks of guaranteed time off with pay. Touche.
[. . .]
Only unions would complain that an opera manager is spending too much on opera and not enough on overtime pay and pension benefits.
[. . .]
It is working to preserve a demanding art form that represents one of the high points of Western civilization.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0714/lowry071614.php3#.U-sfwN0--yM

Jewish World Review

July 16, 2014 / 18 Tammuz, 5774
Union drama at the Metropolitan Opera
By Rich Lowry