WNO members to vote on strike action over orchestra cuts

Members of the Musicians' Union at Welsh National Opera (WNO) will vote on whether to take industrial action over plans to put the company's orchestra on part-time contracts with a pay reduction of 15%.

The Musicians’ Union (MU) delivered the notification of intent to ballot to WNO management last week, with the ballot period beginning on 26 June and lasting three weeks.

WNO proposed the changes to orchestra contracts as a cost-saving measure after its funding from Arts Council England (ACE) was reduced by 35%, from £6.24m to £4m a year for the 2023-26 period. The company also receives £4.1m a year from Arts Council Wales but has said this figure, too, represents an 11.8% cut against its application for standstill funding for 2024/25.

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The funding cuts have also forced the company to cease touring in Liverpool and reduce dates in Bristol and Llandudno.

In its demands, the MU is calling on management, ACW and ACE to keep WNO as a full-time company, halt the proposed 15% pay cut and agree on a sustainable funding package to secure WNO's future, including touring.

Backed by members of the Senedd and Wales Trades Union Congress, the orchestra has already been campaigning to keep its full-time contracts by leafleting audience members ahead of WNO performances. Meanwhile, an online petition against the orchestra's cuts has over 10,500 signatures.

In March, WNO Music Director Tomáš Hanus penned an open letter to ACE criticising its reduction of funding to WNO as "reckless".

Earlier this month, it was revealed that ACE told WNO the letter, in which Hanus appeared to "lobby publicly for the reinstatement of its ACE [National Portfolio] grant to 2018-23 levels," could jeopardise a £3.2m grant awarded through ACE's £9m Transform programme, designed to support NPOs that received a cut in funding.

An email sent to WNO Interim General Director Christopher Barron by ACE Chair Nicholas Serota said that Hanus's position "and the fact it clearly has the support of the wider leadership and chair of the company" appeared to place WNO's commitment to meeting the terms of the grant in doubt.

Strike action at ENO

Earlier this year, strike action at English National Opera over cost-saving measures to downsize its orchestra and chorus was narrowly avoided.

The chorus and orchestra had voted to walk out over plans to reduce their numbers and change working hours for those remaining. A strike had been planned to coincide with the opening night of The Handmaid’s Tale but was cancelled at the last minute following talks with ENO.

ENO has previously said that the cuts are necessary following the removal of its £12.6m of annual core funding from ACE. After a significant backlash, including objections from management and unions, ACE subsequently ring-fenced £17m in additional financing for the company over three years, with the condition that the company partially relocate to Manchester by 2029.

The Musicians' Union subsequently reached an agreement with ENO for its members after the orchestra voted "with heavy hearts" to accept a package guaranteeing all players seven months' work once the company relocated.