The National Symphony Orchestra players learned they are being furloughed for the rest of the coronavirus outbreak hours after President Trump signed legislation giving the Kennedy Center $25 million in relief money.
Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter told the 96 musicians who make up the orchestra on Friday that their last paychecks were coming on April 3 and that they will not be paid again until the center reopens. The Kennedy Center has so far canceled performances through early May.
“This decision, from an organization with an endowment of nearly $100 million, is not only outrageous — coming after the musicians had expressed their willingness to discuss ways to accommodate the Kennedy Center during this challenging time — it is also blatantly illegal under the parties’ collective bargaining agreement,” Ed Malaga, president of the Local 161-710 of the American Federation of Musicians, slammed the move.
“That agreement specifically requires that the Center provide six weeks’ notice before it can stop paying musicians for economic reasons,” he added.
The Kennedy Center received $25 million from the federal government in its $2 trillion relief package, which was signed into law Friday. Rutter said she would also suspend her own $1.2 million salary during the coronavirus outbreak.
“Without concerts and the corresponding ticket revenue, it is an unsustainable strategy to pay musicians to stay at home during this forced and still undefined quarantine period,” she said. “These cuts combined with anticipated administrative staff furloughs and potential layoffs may seem drastic, however, we know the only way through this is for all union and non-union employees to participate in the solution. The other unions within the Center have also experienced this furlough and are not or will not be receiving compensation.”
The payroll for the National Symphony each week is $400,000. Rutter said the $25 million would go toward “essential personnel to ensure we can reopen the Center.”
