Tentative deal could end Detroit symphony strike

[April 04, 2011]  DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and its striking musicians said Monday that a tentative agreement reached following a weekend of lengthy talks could resolve a six-month walkout.

The deal, which was reached after discussions that ran from 1 p.m. Sunday until after 11 p.m., is subject to a ratification vote expected this week, said musicians' spokesman Greg Bowens. If approved, he said Detroit Federation of Musicians union members with the nationally acclaimed orchestra could be back at work by next weekend.

"This is the first time that the (musicians') negotiating committee has actually hammed out an agreement that they feel they could take back to the members," Bowens told The Associated Press on Monday morning.

Elizabeth Weigandt, a spokeswoman for the orchestra, confirmed in an email to The AP on Monday morning that a tentative agreement was reached. She and Bowens both said details of the terms weren't being immediately released.

WWJ-AM first reported the agreement Monday morning.

Seeking to reduce costs, management implemented a 33 percent base pay cut for orchestra veterans in September, from $104,650 to $70,200 in the first year. Musicians had offered to take a 22 percent reduction in the first year, to $82,000. Musicians' salaries would have risen in subsequent years.

Since then, both sides have made counter offers to narrow the divide.

Musicians walked off the job Oct. 4. Management suspended the remainder of the current season that was to have run through June 5 in February after musicians rejected a contract proposal that was dubbed a final offer by management.

Musicians had said they were given a deadline of last Friday to settle the strike or face losing the summer performance season and jeopardizing the fall season. But talks continued through the weekend, running for about 17 hours on Saturday and continuing for about 10 hours on Sunday, Bowens said.

"There's been a lot of effort put into trying to reach an agreement," Bowens said.

Even before the strike, the nationally acclaimed orchestra had seen its donations fall, endowment shrink and ticket sales soften as the state's auto industry shed jobs and plants and experienced bankruptcy reorganizations. And the walkout has left the financially struggling orchestra in worsening economic shape.

[Associated Press; By DAVID RUNK]

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