Strike threat at Kimmel eases with a tentative pact for ushers
IATSE Local B29 had authorized union leaders to call a strike if no deal was reached.
Ushers at the Kimmel Center, the Academy of Music, and Miller Theater have struck a tentative deal on a new labor contract. If approved, the contract would give the members of the union a 23% raise over five years, officials of IATSE Local B29 and the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts announced Wednesday.
The union had sought a 27% increase in wages, while management was offering 22%.
No other details of the tentative contract were released, except that it included “additional benefits and changes to work rules, reflecting the ushers’ vital role as the face of Ensemble Arts’ venues,” the two sides said in a joint statement.
The union had been seeking changes in work rules; the right to work at all events other than concerts in the Kimmel Center, like weddings; the right to work orchestra events outside of the Kimmel Center, such as the annual concert honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at Girard College; meals for ushers working double shifts; and overtime pay on Sundays.
The new contract proposal must still be ratified by the full membership.
Last week, after more than six months of negotiation, IATSE Local B29 members authorized union leaders to call a strike if no deal was reached.
Negotiations resumed this week under threat of a strike during a busy performance calendar that includes the Philadelphia Orchestra in two performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 in Marian Anderson Hall, and the opening of MJ the Musical in the Academy of Music.
The ushers’ last contract expired June 30.