Equity vows to fight ‘reckless’ cuts to WNO’s chorus

Performers' union Equirty has voiced its opposition to Welsh National Opera's (WNO) plans to cut the salary of its chorus members and threaten compulsory redundancy.

WNO, which has warned of financial difficulties after having its core funding cut, plans to reduce the full-time contracts of its chorus members to 45 weeks with a salary cut of at least 15% a year.

Equity says that recent “opaque proposals” for changes to its members' terms and conditions have been tabled, which would “fundamentally undermine the job security of this highly skilled professional ensemble.” 

The changes mirror those put forward for the orchestra at WNO and follow contract renegotiations for the chorus and orchestra at English National Opera earlier this year.

The union said it has “always been open to the [negotiation] process” and “believed that despite the challenging financial situation the company faced, [WNO] would protect the chorus.” 

“[We] will not accept compulsory redundancies or the desire of WNO management to make contracts ‘flexible’ solely to their own advantage while adding the precarity of an unsustainable cut to chorus members’ basic earnings,” said the union.

“ Equity’s resistance to the current proposals cannot, and will not, be contingent on the decisions of funders.” 

WNO receives National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) funding from both Arts Council England (ACE) and Arts Council Wales (ACW), but its ACE funding was reduced from £6.24m to £4m a year for the 2023-26 period, a 35% reduction, while it receives £4.1m a year from ACW.

Last June, an open letter from former members of the opera warned that a strategic review would reduce the number of full-time orchestra and chorus members to meet funding conditions imposed by ACE.