Labor Dispute Imperils S.F. Opera Opening

Opening night for the San Francisco Opera season may be canceled unless opera management makes another offer today to musicians after a contract rejection.

The musicians union Monday rejected a contract offer, and it may receive a strike sanction today from the San Francisco Labor Council.

Opera management was expected to announce this afternoon whether it will make another offer.

The orchestra’s last contract expired Aug. 19, and its 69 members voted to continue rehearsing without a contract for the coming season, which begins Friday.

Musicians Local 6 asked for a 22.5% raise over three years, which would bring the musicians’ salaries to $49,000, said Lisa Hirsch Du Brul, negotiator and legal counsel for the union. The latest contract, which ran from 1987 to 1990, brought salaries from $30,000 to $40,000.

In 1987, the opera orchestra played all its preseason rehearsals without a contract, voting on the final deal 10 minutes before the dress rehearsal of “The Barber of Seville,” which was performed the night before the season opening.