New York’s Metropolitan Opera has proposed bringing in a federal mediator to resolve its most bitter labor dispute with musicians and other unionized employees in decades, the company said on Wednesday.
The suggestion comes a day before current contracts expire, but will not alter the Met’s plans to lock out employees and suspend their health benefits on Friday if new agreements are not reached, the company said.
A lockout could derail at least the start of the new season at one of the world’s preeminent opera houses, due to begin on Sept. 22 with Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
The Met has said its labor force has become too expensive in a time of declining global interest in opera. Pay and benefits for orchestra players, chorus singers, stagehands and other unionized employees accounted for nearly US$215 million of its US$326.8 million operating expenses in the last financial year.
Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, said this week that opera could become obsolete “if measures are not taken to make it fit in the 21st-century economy.”
The mediation proposal was made at a meeting on Wednesday with the Met’s chorus, represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists, said Alan Gordon, the union’s national executive director.
Photo: AFP
照片:法新社
The Met confirmed the proposal in a statement, saying having a representative from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service was “a more pragmatic way forward.”
Gordon said his union would be willing to accept mediation, although he could not speak for the 14 other unions with which the Met is separately negotiating.
The union representing the Met Orchestra, Local 802, said they were considering the proposal, but wanted the lockout averted.
Photo: AFP
照片:法新社
“We believe it would have a much greater chance of success if Peter Gelb would back off his lockout threats and extend the current contract,” Local 802 president Tino Gagliardi said in a statement.
The dispute has turned increasingly sour since Gelb wrote a letter last week to employees informing them of a possible lockout.
The Met Orchestra has publicly denigrated the new productions brought in under Gelb and lambasted what they called his “failed management and lack of artistic vision.”
The union compiled a tally of reviews of new productions since Gelb took over in 2006, suggesting critics had generally disliked them. The Met says new productions under Gelb have garnered the same mix of praise and brickbats as his predecessors.
(Reuters)
紐約大都會歌劇院週三表示,已提議請一位聯邦調解人,協助化解歌劇院與音樂家及其他工會組織員工數十年來最嚴重的勞資糾紛。
該公司表示,這項建議時間點就在當前合約到期日的前一天。倘若無法達成協議,歌劇院將不改其原定週五要員工停工並終止其健保福利的決定。
這個世界夙負盛名之一歌劇院停工的可能後果,至少會造成其新樂季開季節目異動。新樂季預定九月二十二日以莫札特的《費加洛的婚禮》開場。
大都會歌劇院已表示,在當今全球歌劇退燒的年代,其勞方支出已變得太過昂貴。在去年財政年度中,總營運費用達三點二六八億美元,而樂團團員、合唱團成員、劇場工作人員,以及其他工會員工的薪資福利支出就高達近二點一五億美元。
劇院總經理彼得‧蓋爾伯表示,「若沒有採取任何措施讓歌劇院營運符合二十一世紀的經濟現況」,歌劇院就可能關門大吉。
「美國音樂家協會」總監艾倫‧戈登表示,這項藉由調停者解決問題的提議,是在週三與代表歌劇院合唱團的「美國音樂家協會」在一場會議中達成。
歌劇院在一份聲明稿中證實了這項提議,並表示能有美國聯邦調停和解署派出代表是「一個較實際的解決方法。」
戈登表示,雖然他無法代表其他十四個工會表達意見,但其工會樂意接受調解。歌劇院正個別和其他十四個工會談判中。
代表大都會歌劇院樂團的紐約802音樂家工會(Local 802)表示,他們正考慮這項提議,但要求資方取消停工決定。
紐約802音樂家工會主席提諾‧利亞爾迪在一份聲明中表示:「我們相信若彼得‧蓋爾伯可以撤回停工的恐嚇並且延長合約期限,解決爭議的勝算將大幅提升。」
自從蓋爾伯上週發信給員工,告知他們可能停工的消息後,該爭議即變得愈加劍拔弩張。
大都會歌劇院樂團已公開貶低在蓋爾伯領導下推出的新歌劇製作,並且強力抨擊他們所謂蓋爾伯的「失敗經營與缺乏藝術視野」。
該工會彙整自從蓋爾伯二00六年上任以來,其所推出新歌劇製作的大量樂評,暗示樂評者普遍都給予負評。大都會歌劇院則表示,如同歷年來擔任過劇院總經理的評價一般,蓋爾伯主導下推出的新製作也是得到褒貶不一的評價。
(路透/翻譯:林亞蒂)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
A: What’s even more horrible is that the five suspects who purposely supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry were all his “friends.” B: Who exactly are the five suspects? A: They include Matthew’s two doctors, a broker, a drug dealer, and even his live-in assistant. B: Those scumbags should go to jail. A: Yeah, one of the doctors may be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison. A: 更可怕的是,提供男星馬修派瑞「K他命」的5人全是他的「朋友」。 B: 嫌犯是誰啊? A: 其中包括他的2位醫生、1位仲介、1位毒販、甚至他的同居助理! B: 那些人渣真該去坐牢。 A: 對啊,其中1位醫生可能面臨120年徒刑。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Finally, cultural influence also plays a role in which hand people prefer. Historically, items that require physical manipulation have been designed for right-handed use. For example, tools like scissors and musical instruments are often constructed with right-handers in mind, making it difficult for left-handers to use them. __4__ While these factors offer some explanation, they remain speculative. The precise reasons for the global prevalence of right-handed people continue to be debated. Nevertheless, left-handedness will remain a phenomenon of great curiosity among scientists and researchers for many years to come. 最後,文化影響也在人們偏好哪一隻手上扮演一角。歷史上,需要用到肢體操作的物品都被設計來供右手使用。舉例來說,像是剪刀、樂器等工具常常就是考慮到右撇子而打造的,造成左撇子難以使用這些工具。因此,許多天生就是左撇子的人可能就必須透過學習使用右手來適應。 雖然這些因素都提供了一些解釋,但它們仍是推測而已。全球右撇子如此普及,確切的原因仍持續被爭論著。不過,在未來的許多年裡,左撇子依然會是科學家和研究人員相當好奇的一個現象。 What Did You Learn? (A) Specifically, different areas of