SLSO president Randy Adams said that officials would decide today whether to officially cancel this weekend's performances, which were to feature pianist Orli Shaham and to be conducted by David Robertson, her husband and the orchestra's music director-designate.
The main point of disagreement for the two sides is salary. Management is seeking a pay cut; musicians, who accepted a cut three years ago when the orchestra was on the verge of bankruptcy, want a raise. Musicians currently make a minimum of $73,900; according to the Post-Dispatch, management's "last, best, and final offer" was for about $72,000.
Flutist Jan Gippo, the chairman of the musicians' negotiating committee, said that players did not rail against management before voting 85-3 to reject the offer. He told the paper, "People just got up and said, 'I'm really sad, but I can't accept it.'"