English National Opera musicians have voted to halt strike action after reaching an agreement with the organisation, after they faced being hired and rehired.
The ENO had planned to make the chorus, orchestra and music staff redundant before re-employing them for six months of the year which was set to cause the Musicians’ Union to call its first strike in 44 years.
But after negotiations with the Musicians’ Union, the ENO has said it will revise its plans. The musicians have now been offered seven months of guaranteed work, a minimum redundancy payment and improvements to their new contracts.
Industrial action
Performing arts union Equity, which represents the ENO’s singers and chorus, announced an interim settlement with the organisation on 29 January but has not yet reached a full resolution.
The ENO lost its £12.8m annual Arts Council England national portfolio funding in 2023 and was told it had to move outside London to qualify for future grants.
The opera’s new home will be in Manchester. Amid the uproar over the move announcement, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said that the city did not want the company if it didn’t want to come willingly.
Jo Laverty, the Musicians’ Union’s national organiser for orchestras, said: “Our members remain deeply disappointed that they have lost so much work and income when many of the other ENO staff have stayed full time.”
“It is our intention to work on building up our members’ work with ENO so they can return to full contracts. An ideal long-term situation would see ENO making opera full time in both London and Manchester.”
The ENO is currently still based at the Colosseum in London’s West End. It has planned to fully establish itself in Manchester by the end of 2029 and move out of its London base. Initially, it will not have a fixed location but will stage performances at venues across Greater Manchester, such as the Lowry Arts Centre in Salford.
Manchester is thought to be the largest city in Europe without its own opera company.
The organisation employs about 300 people, with up to 900 additional casual workers engaged in individual productions.
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