Quietly, A Big Deal Gets Done In Minneapolis

Compared to some other orchestral contract negotiations this fall, the talks at the Minnesota Orchestra didn’t make many headlines. But behind the scenes, both musicians and management went in knowing exactly what they had to get out of a new deal, and both profess to have gotten it. The musicians will see an impressive 26% raise over the life of the five-year deal, and the orchestra will be assured that health care costs will not rise more than 10% a year without musicians agreeing to shoulder some of the increase.