The FIRST collective bargaining agreement with the Philadelphia Orchestra Association for Artists of the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir was approved by AGMA leadership on April 29, 2024, after being overwhelmingly ratified by the new AGMA shop.
Thank you to the negotiating committee and the organizing committee for all the work that went into arriving at this point. Congratulations on this FIRST agreement!
CONTRACT HIGHLIGHTS
COMPENSATION AND OTHER BENEFITS:
- Term: through the 2025-2026 Season
- Increase in rehearsal fee
- Increase in performance fee
- Artists to receive negotiated rate retroactively for the Mozart Requiem performances
- NEW: Pay or Play
- NEW: Each service call will be 3 hours, inclusive of warm-ups, with overage payment for excess time
- NEW: Ensemble Soloists will get fee per performance for step-out solos
- NEW: Covers will get a fee for each rehearsal/performance, with option to negotiate a higher fee when they perform
- NEW: Advance audition notice for returning Artists
- NEW: Management to provide AGMA with Artists who are on the "Call-List." (Artists will know whether they're under consideration for hiring)
- NEW: More streamlined availability survey and contract offer timeline
- NEW: Provision for a final, 30-day schedule, with call times announced 14 days in advance
- NEW: Total rest periods of 5 minutes per ½-hour of rehearsal—i.e., 30 minutes within a 3-hour rehearsal call—and extended break for nursing mothers to pump.
- NEW: Holiday provision, including from Maundy Thursday evening through Easter
- NEW: Run-out transportation to be equal to the orchestra
- NEW: Media provision that permits typical promotional, news, radio use, etc., but right to bargain for other uses and if orchestra members get additional payment
- Individual Artist and (NEW) AGMA Credit
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND SAFETY:
- NEW: Discrimination and Harassment language, including reverse Weingarten
- NEW: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Strategies (IDEAS) language