Opera singers stage strike
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Striking singers will hold a free perfomance for opera lovers.
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LONDON, England -- Choristers at a prestigious opera company are staging a strike to protest against plans to cut one in three singers.
Sixty singers with the English National Opera are refusing to appear in Tuesday's performance of Berlioz's "The Trojans: The Capture of Troy" at the London Coliseum.
It will be the first choristers strike in the company's long history, but the singers will not be picketing their theater -- they are holding a free church concert around the corner instead.
Equity, the performers' union, said the singers voted unanimously for industrial action after the ENO threatened to reduce their number by 33 percent -- or 20 choristers -- as part of cost-cutting measures. Four further one-day strikes are planned.
The ENO has been plunged into financial crisis in recent years and says a grant offered by Britain's Arts Council is dependent on the company revising some of its practices.
An ENO spokeswoman told the UK Press Association that the changes could only be achieved by "a combination of reduced staffing levels, more flexible ways of working and new contractual relationships."
She added "a policy of no change is not an option."
ENO chairman Martin Smith described the strike action as "deeply disappointing."
ENO management is due to embark on a formal 90-day consultation with staff about the redundancy packages and selection process next week, PA reported.
But Equity said management has so far not responded to requests to discuss alternative methods of achieving savings.
