Central City Opera’s latest statement is nothing more than a transparent attempt to distract from their own misconduct. The accusations bulleted in their statement are completely without merit. Meanwhile, we are still waiting for a direct response to the issues raised in our letter to CCO’s Board.
CCO published their statement minutes after canceling a bargaining session with the Union, which was scheduled for today, December 15. CCO’s reason for canceling was that they were too busy working on their non-union show that opened this past weekend. We’ve already filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) earlier this week about this non-union production (though we didn’t feel the need to publish that we took this action publicly). In our last bargaining session on December 1, AGMA’s bargaining committee sat in caucus for just under three hours waiting for CCO’s responses to AGMA counterproposals, until CCO emailed us just to say they couldn’t continue the session that day. This is a well-known union-busting tactic of Littler Mendelson. And they will not break us.
We want to thank every person and organization who has stood in solidarity with AGMA during this time. We also want to thank, in particular, the brave artists who have reached out to us since last Tuesday, both publicly and privately, to share accounts of their time at Central City Opera. We don’t underestimate the courage it takes to speak your truth and relive these experiences.
We believe our artists, and we will never stop fighting for you.
As for AGMA, we are still ready to bargain in good faith, as we have done at every step of this process, and we’re proceeding with arbitration for the artists still owed more than $12,000. Central City Opera: pay your artists, stop union busting, bargain a fair contract, and create a safe and equitable workplace.