Symphony Directors Reject Contract Offer

Directors of the Ventura County Symphony have rejected a short-term contract offer by the orchestra’s musicians, leaving the fate of opening night and the rest of the season in question.

In the latest chapter of the three-month labor dispute, on Wednesday the symphony’s board of directors rejected a proposal from the musicians union that would have prohibited a strike during the next 30 days. That would have ensured the performance of the season’s first concert, scheduled for Oct. 8 in Oxnard.

But after the 30-day agreement, according to the proposal, either side could have canceled the agreement with 24 hours notice. Under that condition, the musicians could have gone on strike before the symphony’s Oct. 26 engagement at the new Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks.

Symphony President Felice Ginsberg said the directors decided they could not take that risk.

“We want to retain some control over what our subscribers are exposed to,” she said.

“If it means we’ll reschedule the first concert for sometime next year, we’ll do that.”

The orchestra’s management had set a Tuesday deadline for canceling the first concert if the strike issue had not been settled. That deadline has now been moved to 5 p.m. Saturday, Ginsberg said.

“It’s a real deadline,” she said. “Otherwise you can just counter-propose right through the first concert.”

Attorneys for the symphony association have now sent a counterproposal to the union’s negotiators without a 24-hour cancellation clause.

On Thursday, officials with the American Federation of Musicians had not yet responded to the latest offer.

Earlier, union representatives said they wanted the right to cancel the interim agreement as leverage in case negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement stalled.

The musicians are seeking a contract that guarantees them tenure, a right to be reviewed by their peers before being dismissed, and a chance to play in all symphony productions.