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MU lodges motions at TUC, comments on Scottish Opera
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 16 September 2010
With 6music saved, it’s easy to forget the axe is still well and truly hanging over that other niche audience BBC digital radio service The Asian Network. But the Musicians’ Union haven’t forgotten and they used this week’s Trades Union Congress conference in Manchester to say so.
They submitted a motion to the conference calling on the BBC to halt plans to shut down the station. They also filed a motion calling on the government to reconsider plans to force the Department Of Culture, Media & Sport to make budget cuts of 25%, arguing doing so will put jobs at risk in the UK creative sector. According to Music Week, MU General Secretary John Smith reported that both motions were well received by his comrades in other unions.
Elsewhere in MU news, members of the orchestra of the Scottish Opera have reluctantly voted to accept new contracts from the Glasgow-based company that will make more musicians part-time rather than full-time employees, working a 28-31 week year. The MU had been negotiating for its members in the orchestra who initially opposed the new contracts, arguing they would impinge the artistic quality of the opera group’s output and leave many members in a difficult position professionally and financially.
Although accepting the new contracts in principle, MU officials will continue to negotiate for the best possible terms, while the union’s Regional Organiser for Scotland told CMU: “We believe [Scottish Opera] needs to deliver more for the audiences and communities it serves. We urge the management to work together with its employees across the company to find different and innovative ways of increasing productivity and achieving financial stability, which won’t compromise the company artistically, and will ensure the long-term future of Scottish Opera”.