S.F. Opera’s Labor Dispute May Be Over by Wednesday

Negotiators for the San Francisco Opera and its orchestra tentatively settled a labor dispute, and opera executives announced on Monday that if the settlement is ratified, the delayed season would open Saturday with “Rigoletto” at the War Memorial Opera House.

The tentative settlement, reached late Sunday night, appears to be a victory for the management. If the pact is ratified by the opera board of the directors today and the musicians Wednesday, orchestra members will receive 4.5% raises in the first two years of the three-year contract, and 5% in the final year.

The labor dispute had prompted the San Francisco opera management to lock out its 69-member orchestra and cancel the opening of the 68th season, which was to have begun Friday.

“The opera association is delighted that there is this agreement and we look forward to doing what we do best, which is providing opera,” spokesman Jon Finck said. If ratified, the settlement will allow all subsequent performances to go on as scheduled.

Joanne Burke Eisler, a clarinetist and chairwoman of the union negotiating committee, predicted that members of American Federation of Musicians Local 6 would ratify the pact when they meet Wednesday.

“We’re all very sad that we had to fight so hard to get so little,” Eisler said outside the rehearsal hall Monday.

She said she believed that opera board members were serious about shutting the company over the dispute. “I would hope that the public would think about that,” she said. She also said musicians, whose contract expired Aug. 19, agreed to settle in part because they “felt an obligation” to the opera-loving public.

The talks had broken down Sept. 2 after orchestra members sought a 22% raise over three years, and opera management offered 12% over the three-year contract term. Musicians’ base salary is $40,000 a year now for a 23-week season.