Cleveland Orchestra Musicians Ratify Three-Year Contract, End Three-Day Strike

Musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra have ratified a new three-year contract, ending a rare three-day strike that had already forced two cancellations and threatened the ensemble’s upcoming European tour. The agreement includes guaranteed 5% pay raises in each year of the deal, along with new contract language covering auditions, injury prevention and workload relief.

Under the contract, base guaranteed compensation will rise from $165,516 before the agreement to about $191,620 by the end of the term. The deal also shifts musicians to a high-deductible health plan that qualifies for a health savings account, or HSA, though the orchestra said out-of-pocket costs will not increase during the agreement. Beyond wages and benefits, the settlement codifies that audition committee members will have a meaningful voice in hiring decisions while music director approval remains final, and it adds protections aimed at repetitive-strain and other injury prevention, plus additional relief time for section string players when vacancies increase workload.

The strike disrupted the orchestra almost immediately. Two engagements were canceled: a Sept. 25 appearance at the University of Michigan and a Sept. 26 concert at Severance Music Center. The ratified agreement also clears the way for the orchestra’s scheduled Oct. 2-21 European tour — 15 concerts in nine countries — to proceed as planned.

The previous collective bargaining agreement expired Aug. 30. The sides extended it on Sept. 2 through Sept. 23 while negotiations continued. Talks had been underway since July between the musicians, represented through the Cleveland Federation of Musicians, also known as AFM Local 4, and an elected negotiating committee chaired by violinist Elayna Duitman, and management, represented by the Musical Arts Association, the orchestra’s governing organization led publicly by President and CEO André Gremillet. The strike began after the Sept. 24 performance and took effect at midnight Friday, Sept. 25. A tentative agreement was reached late Saturday, Sept. 26, according to reports, and musicians ratified it Sunday, Sept. 27.

Duitman said the settlement addressed several of the musicians’ main concerns, not just compensation. “We were able to agree to a fair compensation package, a voice in our auditions and improved safety for our musicians,” she said. Gremillet said, “The outcome at the table was driven by good-faith negotiation, not by the work stoppage.”

For one of the nation’s top orchestras, even a short strike is unusual. Reporting described the stoppage as the first multi-day work stoppage for the orchestra since 1980 and only its second strike in recent decades, making the swift settlement significant for both labor peace and the orchestra’s performance schedule.