AB'sMom Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 I check AGMA’s website periodically and they still haven’t posted about a new agreement. It’s possible that there is one, but usually they post updates. The dancers remaining quiet about the situation seems unusual. Link to comment
stuben Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Since many are still questioning and there is no word so far, I decided to do a bit of social media sleuthing, I decided to be bold and just ask the question on the AGMA Instagram account and learned that .... interestingly enough .... they are "still in negotiations". Whatever this means and assuming no contracts yet. I do wonder then if the dancers have all been working without a contract since last year, and does this include the orchestra and stagehands? How does this work and is this legal? If so, this is unfortunate and I feel for those who need the financial help with living in NYC and surrounding areas, it can't be cheap! Link to comment
AB'sMom Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I was wondering the same and assumed they are just working and being paid under the terms of the old contract. I guess it isn’t shocking that they aren’t striking because they probably can’t afford to. The AGMA situation seems unique compared to other unions because each company has different terms so the entire community of AGMA dancers doesn’t strike to support dancers at an individual company and there doesn’t seem to be a fund to support dancers if they want to strike. Link to comment
aurora Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 19 hours ago, stuben said: Since many are still questioning and there is no word so far, I decided to do a bit of social media sleuthing, I decided to be bold and just ask the question on the AGMA Instagram account and learned that .... interestingly enough .... they are "still in negotiations". Whatever this means and assuming no contracts yet. I do wonder then if the dancers have all been working without a contract since last year, and does this include the orchestra and stagehands? How does this work and is this legal? If so, this is unfortunate and I feel for those who need the financial help with living in NYC and surrounding areas, it can't be cheap! As someone who spent last year working without a contract, it is legal. Ultimately when a new deal was agreed, it was retroactive, so we received a lump sum of back pay. Link to comment
Helene Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Same here: I used to work for Consumers Union (Newspaper Guild of NY at the time), and we'd usually get a new five-year contract at about three years after the old one expired, and retroactive back to the old one. We used to have one (the fourth) year to relax, and then the fifth year of being unsettled, knowing that it would be rinse-and-repeat within another year. Link to comment
stuben Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 22 hours ago, AB'sMom said: I was wondering the same and assumed they are just working and being paid under the terms of the old contract. I guess it isn’t shocking that they aren’t striking because they probably can’t afford to. The AGMA situation seems unique compared to other unions because each company has different terms so the entire community of AGMA dancers doesn’t strike to support dancers at an individual company and there doesn’t seem to be a fund to support dancers if they want to strike. It is indeed different unlike SAG where they had the support from all actors nationwide, and it is unfortunate I think for dancers and musicians. It is unfortunate for the dancers who most likely don't have wages to meet the living standards, especially in a place like NYC. Per your funding support thought, perhaps they will come up with a "GoFundMe" for audiences & fans to chip in or something. I guess I just feel bad for performers (actors, dancers) who give us so much on stage yet they have to struggle to make a decent living wage, unlike other athletes like football, etc. Link to comment
On Pointe Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 5 minutes ago, stuben said: It is indeed different unlike SAG where they had the support from all actors nationwide, and it is unfortunate I think for dancers and musicians. It is unfortunate for the dancers who most likely don't have wages to meet the living standards, especially in a place like NYC. Per your funding support thought, perhaps they will come up with a "GoFundMe" for audiences & fans to chip in or something. I guess I just feel bad for performers (actors, dancers) who give us so much on stage yet they have to struggle to make a decent living wage, unlike other athletes like football, etc. As a member of SAG, I can assure you that members nationwide had to scramble to make ends meet during the long strike, as well as members of other professional unions that don't get paid if actors aren't working. The general public has no idea how little most actors, writers and yes, athletes, make. (Just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate it when dancers are referred to as "athletes".) You hear about big stars making millions per film, but not much about Oscar winners like Hilary Swank who didn't make enough one year to maintain her union prescription drug coverage. A Go Fund Me for " rich" performers is a non-starter. Many New Yorkers make a lot less than ABT dancers. Link to comment
AB'sMom Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I personally know writers who suffered to make ends meet during the WGA strike. My point about the difference with AGMA and some of the other unions was more about how the entire membership of AGMA doesn’t stop working when one company is having a contract dispute. I would like to think that shutting down an entire industry results in quicker contract resolutions, but they can drag out for quite a while even in those circumstances. Link to comment
stuben Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 23 hours ago, On Pointe said: As a member of SAG, I can assure you that members nationwide had to scramble to make ends meet during the long strike, as well as members of other professional unions that don't get paid if actors aren't working. The general public has no idea how little most actors, writers and yes, athletes, make. (Just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate it when dancers are referred to as "athletes".) You hear about big stars making millions per film, but not much about Oscar winners like Hilary Swank who didn't make enough one year to maintain her union prescription drug coverage. A Go Fund Me for " rich" performers is a non-starter. Many New Yorkers make a lot less than ABT dancers. I apologize if you misunderstood my point, I support SAG and all unions and I am sure members in SAG were scrambling, as I too know a few members, actors, and writer friends, who did have that issue. We are all glad it ended with a positive agreement. I am not sure what the ballet dancers make and cannot assume they are all well off, except for perhaps a selected few. Plus a company like ABT doesn't seem to be working all 12 months, so I do wonder how this affects their lives with the cost of living being so high in NYC. Anyway, I am hoping the union can get what they need to live on. Pro-Union here 🙂 Link to comment
On Pointe Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 17 hours ago, stuben said: I apologize if you misunderstood my point, I support SAG and all unions and I am sure members in SAG were scrambling, as I too know a few members, actors, and writer friends, who did have that issue. We are all glad it ended with a positive agreement. I am not sure what the ballet dancers make and cannot assume they are all well off, except for perhaps a selected few. Plus a company like ABT doesn't seem to be working all 12 months, so I do wonder how this affects their lives with the cost of living being so high in NYC. Anyway, I am hoping the union can get what they need to live on. Pro-Union here 🙂 No need to apologize. Dancers in the big ballet companies are paid decently, enough money to live in the cities where their companies are located. They supplement their incomes with side gigs dancing with smaller companies as guest artists, or modeling. Increasingly dancers are getting endorsement deals, which can be quite lucrative, and running their own businesses. Many dancers come from wealthy families and aren't solely dependent on what they earn dancing. Conversely, there are some notable dancers who come from low income backgrounds who probably are the highest earners in their families. At any rate, professional ballet dancers make a lot more money consistently than actors or writers. Link to comment
MarzipanShepherdess Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 AGMA just posted ABT's dancers voted last night to authorize a strike, with 95% of the dancers in favor. The Instagram post notes the negotiations have stalled after 8 months and that the dancers have been working with an expired contract since September, and says ABT is currently offering only a 1% COL adjustment and proposing salaries that would leave 20% of the company living below NYC's living wage threshold. It also notes ABT dancers are now "significantly behind industry peers" in terms of work weeks and retirement contributions. Hoping for a speedy and just resolution for the dancers! Link to comment
uptowner Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 https://www.instagram.com/p/C3DRqx5u4fm/?igsh=MTFhMWVraHh2cDhwaw== link to the Instagram post from AGMA Link to comment
tutu Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 25 minutes ago, MarzipanShepherdess said: salaries that would leave 20% of the company living below NYC's living wage threshold. This is shocking — what’s NYC’s living wage threshold? Link to comment
California Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 10 minutes ago, tutu said: This is shocking — what’s NYC’s living wage threshold? Here's some data on a living wage in NYC -- but I'm quite sure ABT dancers are not on 52-week contracts. Does anybody know how long their contract is? https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/36061 https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/01/fewer-40-new-yorkers-earn-living-wage Link to comment
MarzipanShepherdess Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 10 minutes ago, tutu said: This is shocking — what’s NYC’s living wage threshold? Officially, the city defines a living wage as $16/hour which would annualize to $33,280 a year with full-time work. MIT's living wage calculator defines a living wage for a single childless adult in NYC as $22.51/hour ($46,820/year with full-time work). I'm sure there are other standards. AGMA's post doesn't cite whose definition of a living wage they are using. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 (edited) 6 minutes ago, California said: Here's some data on a living wage in NYC -- but I'm quite sure ABT dancers are not on 52-week contracts. Does anybody know how long their contract is? https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/36061 https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/01/fewer-40-new-yorkers-earn-living-wage I’m pretty sure it’s 36 weeks. I’m in shock that striking is now their only option. This is catastrophic. Wonder how many dancers will now find positions elsewhere. Edited February 7 by ABT Fan Link to comment
California Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 5 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: I’m pretty sure it’s 36 weeks. I’m in shock that striking is now their only option. This is catastrophic. Wonder how many dancers will now find positions elsewhere. Yikes! The Colorado Ballet (with 30 dancers on contract) has a 34-week contract. https://coloradoballet.org/Audition-Information#. Here are the terms of their 2022 3-year AGMA contract: https://www.musicalartists.org/agma-ratifies-3-year-agreement-with-colorado-ballet/ Link to comment
TheAccidentalBalletomane Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 I am very much hoping it gets resolved before the Kennedy Center performances which I understand are mostly sold out! To lose that revenue would indeed be very bad for the company if not catastrophic. Thinking optimistically, it makes sense that the strike will be resolved before those performances as there will be tremendous pressure for the company to make a deal so that those ballets can go forward and money earned. The dancers deserve a contract that allows them to live decently in the area in which they call home base. It has always been tough for some of these dancers that have to bunch up with friends to live in small apartments or commute from other Boroughs. These are adults, not college kids, many with spouses and some with children. And there are the non-dancers that are integral to every performance. Please get this done ABT!! Link to comment
MarzipanShepherdess Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 (edited) For anyone so inclined, a number of the dancers have been posting a request on social media that audience members (especially donors and current KC ticket holders) contact ABT to (respectfully) voice their support. They suggest writing to contact@abt.org with the subject line "solidarity with ABT dancers and stage managers for a fair contract", and noting that as a ticket buyer and/or donor you support the strike authorization vote, and support the dancers and stage managers in their fight for a fair contract that pays a livable wage. If you won't attend performances until good faith active bargaining is in process, they suggest you note that in your email. Hopefully this is resolved favorably soon! Edited February 8 by MarzipanShepherdess typo correction Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 2 hours ago, TheAccidentalBalletomane said: I am very much hoping it gets resolved before the Kennedy Center performances which I understand are mostly sold out! To lose that revenue would indeed be very bad for the company if not catastrophic. Thinking optimistically, it makes sense that the strike will be resolved before those performances as there will be tremendous pressure for the company to make a deal so that those ballets can go forward and money earned. The dancers deserve a contract that allows them to live decently in the area in which they call home base. It has always been tough for some of these dancers that have to bunch up with friends to live in small apartments or commute from other Boroughs. These are adults, not college kids, many with spouses and some with children. And there are the non-dancers that are integral to every performance. Please get this done ABT!! The KC run is completely sold out, so hopefully this will force their hand. Very sad and disappointing it had to come to this. Link to comment
MoMo Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 Is there a way to obtain access to ABT’s Balance Sheet? I know they are a non profit but I think they still have to report financial information. Link to comment
matilda Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 3 minutes ago, MoMo said: Is there a way to obtain access to ABT’s Balance Sheet? I know they are a non profit but I think they still have to report financial information. Yes: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131882106 Link to comment
MoMo Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 2 hours ago, matilda said: Yes: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131882106 Thank you! This answers a lot of questions for me as to their status. ( I am a retired Banker). 😮😞 Link to comment
Buddy Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 5 hours ago, MoMo said: Thank you! This answers a lot of questions for me as to their status. ( I am a retired Banker). 😮😞 And what gleaneth thee ? 🙂 Link to comment
stuben Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 20 hours ago, matilda said: Yes: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131882106 Thank you for this link, based on what this shows I do wonder if they now save some money by not having an executive director or if that now goes to Jaffe, since she is stepping in to be both. Also, has anyone looked at the website lately? It seems there is no CFO either, so does that mean it is a savings and where is that going? And, I do agree with some comments about the six figures (I would consider them to be high six) for upper management while dancers are trying to make ends meet. Plus, I think this sounds like something that has been building up since McKenzie's days, and I do wonder if he saw this coming and ran!? It is easier to let someone else take the heat. And, does the Expenses include the production of new work? It must be extremely costly to put up elaborate ballets like that of Ratmansky's Sleeping Beauty, Whipped Cream, and even the recent Like Water for Chocolate with all the costumes and sets. I am just wondering if this was an ongoing financial issue, then someone should have looked into paying these artists and stage managers first before they spend more money on new work. I would not mind simpler sets or bringing back the works from the Golden Years of ABT, so they can use funding for salaries first. Just IMHO. Link to comment
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