Oregon Symphony Out Of Tune Musicians Strike As Group Begins Its 100th Season

Instead of a quiet concert hall, the Oregon Symphony occupied a different stage Tuesday: a busy sidewalk where musicians began the first strike in the orchestra’s 100-year history.

The musicians, scheduled to begin the concert season on Sunday, refused to attend their rehearsal Tuesday. Instead, about 60 of them marched and carried signs outside the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

The musicians want a 13 percent wage increase over three years.

The symphony association has offered 6.5 percent. But it wants the musicians to work an additional 15 hours the first year.

That amounts to a “wage freeze,” said Fred Sautter, the symphony’s principal trumpet player and representative in the talks.

“This is laughable,” Sautter said. “This orchestra is about families. And when we see that we give up so much family time, we want to be paid for it.” As negotiations resumed Tuesday morning, Don Roth, president of the symphony association, issued a statement saying that the board must make decisions that are financially responsible.

“We have a strong desire to see the current negotiations resolved in and constructive manner,” Roth said. “As Oregon Symphony trustees and policy makers, it is the board’s function to focus on fundamental and longterm issues. There are too many examples of non-profit boards that have looked the other way from hard financial realities until it was too late.”

Striking musicians carried signs with slogans such as “Fairness to Musicians,” “Do You Want the Sound of Silence?” and “Honk for the Symphony Musicians.”

Several passing cars obliged, serenading the players with blasts from horns that added to the mid-morning traffic.

The median salary for orchestra members is $37,000, and musicians make between $52 and $64 an hour. But a work week is 14.5 hours on the average, and many players must supplement their income by giving lessons.

The symphony, which balanced its budgets from 1992 to 1995, faces a budget shortfall of $200,000 this year and expects a $500,000 deficit next year because of declining donations.

The symphony began its season last week with three free concerts in parks around Portland. Violinist Clarisse Atcherson said the concerts were needed as a show of good faith.

“We know that the public loves us because they applaud and they come to our concerts,” Atcherson said. “I think they understand what we’re going through. Everybody has their own employer-employee relationships.”