Labor Disputes Create New Drama At The Metropolitan Opera

The wedding has been on the calendar for months, but fighting within the family threatens to call the whole thing off. So it goes with the Metropolitan Opera, which is supposed open on Sept. 22 with Mozart's The Marriage Of Figaro. But a long and contentious fight between the Met's management and its unions representing its singers, dancers and musicians has dragged on through most of the summer. And it probably won't end until, yes, the fat lady sings. The hangup? The Met's general manager Peter Gelb has demanded that the unions accept salary cuts of about 17 percent to cover its $2.8 million deficit in its $326 million budget. Meanwhile, the unions have cited "extreme waste" in spending that could be cut instead.

In a surprise twist this past weekend, some progress has been made with negotiations: a lockout was averted with management granting a 72-hour reprieve to try to reach agreements, and a federal mediator is being called in to examine finances. 

In a conversation with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, Fred Plotkin, of WQXR's Operavore blog, helps make sense of what the New York Times has called the Met's most serious labor crisis in three decades.