AGMA Soloists renegotiation points- MET/AGMA CBA Date: May 28th, 2021 Revised May 29th, 2021 Through various meetings and conversations, the Soloists of the AGMA Union have some major concerns about the tentative agreement with the Metropolitan Opera and the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Soloists understand that cuts are necessary to some extent and are willing to come to the table after further review and discussion. 1. The AGMA cuts to soloists fees are for 3 years until July 31st 2024. These cuts will also apply to any contract executed (signed by both parties) during those three years. Meaning potentially, the cuts could be in effect for up to 8 years, as the Metropolitan Opera negotiates certain contracts up to 5 years in the future. These cuts will also apply to the rehearsal fee which is determined by years of seniority. Rehearsal fees vary from $2000-2600 apx per week. 2. The AGMA negotiating committee did not have accurate representation of all tiers of soloists present during the negotiations. The per-performance soloists were not given information about the rate cuts during the negotiations or the results of the tentative agreement. No polls or questions were sent out. AGMA failed to properly inform the entire unit about the changes to the CBA. 3. We question the legality of making cuts to contracts that are in overscale of the current CBA minimums. AGMA does not negotiate those portions of the per-performance soloist contracts (managers or individuals do). We question AGMA’s legal ability to negotiate a new rate on a previously executed contract. This can potentially have repercussions across the entire industry. 4. The rate cuts are not equal across the board of AGMA members. Soloists making $6000 or less will suffer a 6% cut. Covers who earn a MAX of $3000 per performance will also suffer a 6% cut. These cuts affect the bottom line for ALL per-performance soloists regardless of their per-performance fees. Soloists do not receive the same protections or deserved benefits as other groups in AGMA. Dates for reference: May 11th, 2021: AGMA announced a tentative agreement without detailing the terms. May 24th, 2021: Constituency was informed of agreement details. May 28th - June 3rd, 2021: Voting was set to begin, four days after notification, and 2 days after a soloist Q&A session with AGMA leadership. June 1-June 7 2021: Voting window was moved to these dates. We request additional time to review the details of the agreement and insist on a later voting window from June 14th-June 20th, 2021, three weeks after the details were made available on the MyAGMA portal. This would be consistent with normal AGMA operating procedures. Our proposals: 1. The soloists must have a maximum of 3 years of cuts. Contracts executed during that 3 year period should not be subject to the same rate reductions. 2. Overscale must not be subject to the CBA. 3. We do not accept rate cuts for cover artists or artists receiving less than $4500 per performance. 4. AGMA must be more communicative to the members and require confirmation of receipt of important documents and also use other alternatives of contact if initial outreach fails. 5. Replace the per-performance fee cuts with cuts based on monies earned throughout an entire season and/or year. 6. We must be issued a notice of new fees for every executed contract. A paper trail with the new fees clearly stated so we can review and maintain for our records. 7. Residuals of streaming performances must not be subject to ANY pay cuts. 8. We also require that the vote be private and administered by a non partisan commission. We also require an extension to our voting period as detailed above.
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