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Home » Orchestra News » Cincinnati Ratifies One-Year MOU


Cincinnati Ratifies One-Year MOU

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In late August, the musicians of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra ratified a one-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that runs from September 13, 2020 and continues through September 12, 2021; with all terms of the previous agreement restored on the final day, prior to expiration.

The orchestra agreed to a 10% across the board cut in wages, including base salary, individual overscale, and seniority pay. This was reflective of compensation reductions throughout the organization. The most stressful issues were due in large part to the consideration and evaluation of work rules and how to adapt to situations no one had ever experienced before. There was no reduction in wages during the 2019-20 season.

To address management concerns that scheduling rules of the existing CBA did not adequately address the realities of work in the COVID era, the parties agreed to utilize the CBA’s scheduling structure that applies to subcontracted opera work in the summer. This change limits the workload to 20 hours per week per musician rather than relying on a service-count model to determine workload.







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