Discord in the orchestra

Bosses and musicians try to find harmony.

On 12th October around 20 musicians of the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra went on strike for an hour in the morning. The strike was called by one of the 2 musicians' unions, the Syndicat Autonome, which was created in January 2005 and counts around a quarter of the 100 OPMC musicians as members. Among the grievances voiced by the union is the fact that its members must be permanently on call and within a 30 km radius of Monaco whenever they are not taking paid holiday. Additionally, any sick days that a musician takes must be made up.

The Syndicat Autonome did not involve the other union in the industrial action, which meant that other working musicians were not aware of the strike. Following a meeting with the Inspection du Travail on 12th October, the union said that dialogue with OPMC bosses had been opened. However it was later learned that some musicians had been "encouraged to find work elsewhere" after protesting against working conditions, which local press Monaco Hebdo reported had been deteriorating since 2008.

A further meeting was held on 16th November at the Inspection du Travail with OPMC Director Eric Bessi and the Chief Inspector for work Pascale Pallanca. For 4 hours the Syndicat Autonome faced the OPMC administrator Sylvain Charnay, and although there are as yet no firm agreements, the musicians' issues have been clearly explained. The dialogue is once again open, and the agenda includes the question of sick leave deductions. Charnay explained that consideration was being given to more clearly define the periods during which musicians are free and during which they are on call.

Another meeting has been scheduled internally for some time before Christmas, not at the Inspection du Travail because mediation is no longer necessary.

OPMC : the dialogue is open [1]

Conflict at the OPMC: meeting on 16th November? [2]

Orchestra: "things must change" [3]