According to a press release, the agreement "includes salary and benefits increases and will be renegotiated each year for work rules as well as increased salaries for the orchestra." The amount of the pay increases specified in the contract was not available.
Orchestra officials said that the agreement was reached through an unusually collaborative process, with a committee of musicians spending 18 months examining the orchestra's finances. "All of us started the process in a manner that [departed] from our previous contract negotiations to ensure the most positive outcome, and in an environment of mutual respect and common understanding," board chairman Gerald W. Murphy said.
The agreement is the latest good news for an orchestra that recently posted a balanced budget and hired a new music director, Michael Christie.
"Our new orchestra labor agreement is one example of the collaborative governance that has emanated from the Phoenix Symphony board, staff, and orchestra over the past 24 months," said CEO Maryellen Gleason.