Kimmel Center Strike Statement
OCTOBER 1, 2011
Kimmel Center President and CEO Anne Ewers issued the following statement:
"We are disappointed that our workers represented by IATSE, Local 8 have chosen to strike.
We are Philadelphia's gateway to the performing arts to Philadelphia, and our employees are essential to our fulfillment of that civic mission. We hold it as a fundamental goal to treat them fairly. But these negotiations are not being conducted in a vacuum. This contract expiration comes at a grave hour in Philadelphia's performing arts community. The bankruptcy of the Philadelphia Orchestra illustrates that fact wrenchingly. The POA bankruptcy has had profound effects on the Kimmel Center already – we are owed $1.4 million by the Orchestra, with future rent payments uncertain. But the POA is only one of our performing arts stakeholders. All of our Resident Companies face considerable financial stress. And all of our futures hinge on the decisions we, together, make today.
The Kimmel Center has been making those difficult decisions already. We have reduced program offerings. And we have cut staff positions and salaries resulting in an annual reduction of more than $1 million. All our management employees have made great sacrifices, foregoing salary increases and pensions contributions.
Make no mistake, a strike makes the financial pressures worse. Performances, for the time being at least, must be canceled. This makes the revenue challenges we all face even more difficult. And it hurts the people most important to our collective futures — the patrons who attend our shows.
This negotiation cannot simply be about what a union wants. It is about what the performing arts community can bear at a difficult time. We will be fair, but we cannot "buy peace" by agreeing to terms that ignore the issues of the day or the context of our times. We cannot agree to terms that will imperil our ability to fulfill our civic mission: to bring the incredible power of the performing arts to the Greater Philadelphia community.
We will continue to negotiate — in good faith. But with an unflinching focus on the realities of the day, we continue to hope that the indisputable nature of those realities will enable reason to prevail."
Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center. Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the University of the Arts Merriam Theater. Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission is to operate a world class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience which includes providing arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming. The 2011/2012 season is sponsored by Citi. For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org.
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