Welsh National Opera Chorus members take industrial action

Equity members of the Chorus at Welsh National Opera are continuing to take industrial action short of strike in their long running dispute over compulsory redundancies.  

On Saturday 8 February Chorus members wore campaign t-shirts on stage during the curtain call for Marriage of Figaro at Wales Millennium Centre. The action is part of a wider campaign of industrial action which has seen Chorus members make speeches to the audience from the stage, demonstrate outside venues, and hand out campaign leaflets as audiences arrive. 

The WNO Chorus has recently shrunk from 30 to 23 members through a series of voluntary exits, and with a desire by the company to reach a chorus of 20 members through the same process by April, the company have outlined a compulsory redundancy process should that not be possible.  

Equity is continuing to meet the company to resolve this, and Equity members of the Chorus are prepared to take further industrial action and have already advised the company of proposed dates in the near future.  

Commenting Simon Curtis, Equity National Official for Wales, said: “Cuts in arts funding have resulted in Welsh National Opera facing severe financial challenges, and our members face the real threat of compulsory redundancy before April.  

“This is a disaster for our members and despite the Welsh Government providing job protection funding to the company via Arts Council of Wales, it has not actually protected our members’ jobs either now or in the near future.  

“The arts sector in Wales is vital and must be protected for future generations, but the Welsh Government are failing to recognise the consequences of their inaction. In failing to provide sufficient funding, the Welsh Government have left the arts sector in crisis.”