At The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) Board of Governors meeting on October 14, 2019, the Board ratified Arizona Opera’s most recent collective bargaining agreement. The new agreement provides for a raise of 10.3% over three years and increases benefits related to family care, which includes time to care for spouses, domestic partners, children, siblings and grandparents, in addition to other economic and non-economic improvements.
“Our goal in this negotiation was focused on improving certain quality of life issues, since our members live and perform in two cities (Phoenix and Tucson). The improvements in scheduling and accommodations, as well as a raise, will make a real difference for us,” said John Kraft, a member of the negotiating committee.
The new contract will be applied retroactively as the last contract expired on June 30, 2019. “We are pleased with the outcome and that our members will get all the contract benefits effective at the beginning of this year’s season,” said Hope Singer, AGMA’s Western Counsel and chief spokesperson at the negotiations. She continued, “This was a challenging situation which was concluded by both parties’ willingness to compromise and get back to producing beautiful music.”
For press release, please see: https://www.pr.com/press-release/798419