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WNO chorus members renew strike mandate

26 Mar 2025 2 minute read
Equity members in the WNO chorus taking part in action outside the Wales Millennium Centre.

Equity members of the Welsh National Opera chorus have voted in favour of industrial action in a re-ballot on the ongoing dispute over proposed job cuts and changes to employment terms and conditions.

The chorus will continue to take action short of striking from 9 April onwards.

The previous mandate for action lasted for six months and as the dispute remains unresolved, a re-ballot took place, closing this week.

WNO Equity members have voted 95% in favour of action short of strike and 91% in favour of strike action on a 100% turnout.

The chorus, represented by Equity, the trade union for professional singers, are taking industrial action over management proposals to cut the size of the full-time chorus, and make “unsustainable cuts” to their terms and conditions.

They have previously protested against the plans by wearing union t-shirts during performances, making speeches during curtain call, and leafleting audiences.

Redundancies

Equity’s Wales Official Simon Curtis said: “We have been clear from the very start of this dispute: the chorus will not accept compulsory redundancies.

“This would equate to a career-ending scenario if they remain in Wales, where opportunities for professional singers are virtually non-existent.

“We urge WNO management to reassess their business plan and budget given recent financial developments – including Arts Council of Wales (ACW) Resilience Funding, an increased ACW budget for 2025/6, and potential discussions around direct Welsh Government support – and not make cuts that would harm the livelihoods of the workforce and quality of the WNO’s opera provision.”

Top-up

Last month, the Welsh government announced a £4.4m top up to Wales’ arts and culture 2025-26 budget.

This comes after a 10.5% cut to Arts Council of Wales funding last year. While the arts and culture budget for the forthcoming year has been restored to 2023-24 levels, it takes place against a backdrop of a 40% cut in funding in real terms since 2010, which has hit the sector hard.

WNO, which also tours in England, also had its Arts Council England grant reduced by 35%, from £6.24m to £4m a year for the 2023-26 period.

They were subsequently granted an additional £3.25m through its Transform programme to help it adapt to lower funding levels.


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