Standing Together, Winning Together: The Fight for Fair Orchestra Contracts

October 1, 2026

Tino Gagliardi  -  AFM International President

From the concert hall to the orchestra pit, our symphonic communities are proving this fall that better working conditions are won only through unyielding courage, solidarity, and resilience. This resolve reminds us that whether we push back against cuts, hold the line during negotiations, or face strike authorization votes, our greatest power is our unity. Throughout these efforts, our members are backed by resources at both the local and Federation levels, including the AFM’s Symphonic Services Division and Organizing Services Department.

When we look back at the milestones of our union, we see that every advancement—from fair healthcare protections and secure pensions to reasonable scheduling and guaranteed minimum complements—was won because musicians refused to accept less. The corporate impulse to trim budgets at musicians’ expense remains a constant threat. That is why our presence in the concert hall, on sidewalks and plazas, and at the ballot box matters now more than ever. Every time a musician speaks up against overreach, they protect not just their own livelihood, but the entire cultural ecosystem that our communities depend on.

Front-Line Battles

The challenges our musicians faced on the front lines offer lessons about what it takes to win.

• Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), Local 9-535 (Boston, MA): Facing stalled talks and a deadline, BSO musicians voted to authorize a strike to secure wage increases that outpace inflation, protect orchestra size, and ensure freelance musicians were not left behind during cost-cutting pushes. An agreement was ultimately reached, securing a fair path forward after standing firm.
• San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Local 6 (San Francisco, CA): San Francisco Opera musicians stood firm during a nearly weeklong strike (spanning September 12-17) against pressures to compromise on compensation and work rules. By holding firm, their grit led to an agreement that protects professional standards, ensures fair wage progression, and preserves the artistic excellence of the company.
• Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Local 101-473 (Dayton, OH): Musicians confronted proposals from management to eliminate programming series—like rock and pop—and slash masterworks and ballet performances. This meant wage cuts of more than 40% for many members. Their ongoing struggle to defend artistic viability, reverse schedule cuts, and demand administrative accountability has resulted in a unanimous vote of no confidence in leadership. Further ratcheting up pressure, the musicians took a nearly unanimous strike authorization vote on September 19.
• Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, Local 148-462 (Atlanta, GA): Musicians face a troubling tactic—replacing live musicians with recorded music during performances. Musicians have distributed informational leaflets at performances, demanding that management respect live musicianship rather than rely on prerecorded tracks.
• The Cleveland Orchestra, Local 4 (Cleveland, OH): After failing to reach an agreement during the 10-day contract extension, the musicians went on strike September 25. Throughout the dispute, Cleveland musicians stood shoulder to shoulder—leveraging social media, leafleting, and picketing to advocate for fair compensation, a voice in auditions, and improved safety. Driven by that solidarity, the musicians agreed to a new three-year contract on September 27 that delivers those priorities.

What It Takes to Win

Connecting the dots between these battles—from Boston and Dayton to San Francisco, Atlanta, Cleveland, and beyond, as well as the Eastern Music Festival, Local 342 (Greensboro, NC), and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Local 145 (Vancouver, BC) in 2025—reveals a truth: management teams often treat musicians as line items on a spreadsheet rather than the heart of an institution. Whether trying to reduce healthcare coverage, slash seasons, or swap living artists for prerecorded tracks, their playbook is predictable.

Today, musicians are demonstrating an ever greater appetite for collective action, engaging in leafleting and social media campaigns and taking strike authorization votes. Employers who doubt the seriousness of the musicians’ commitment to attaining a fair deal do so at their peril, as we saw with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra strike.

Winning at the bargaining table takes more than legal arguments or economic data; we cannot win without the active participation of our musicians. Achieving victory requires visible unity: the unanimous vote of no confidence, the informational leaflets, community petitions signed by patrons, and the courage of members voting for strike authorization when dialogue hits a wall. It is also looking out for one another—knowing that when musicians take a stand, they have the backing of the labor movement and musicians Federation wide standing beside them.

We cannot afford to fight in isolation. By recognizing that the struggles of ballet, opera, and symphony players, recording musicians, freelancers, and theater musicians are the same fight, we build an unbreakable front.

When we stick together, support each other through local battles, and refuse to back down from our worth, we do not just win contracts—we secure the future of live music. In solidarity, we are unstoppable.

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