NEW YORK (AP) – New York’s Metropolitan Opera reached tentative labor deals with two of its largest unions early Monday while negotiations continued with 10 more unions in hopes of averting a lockout.
The federal Mediation and Conciliation Service announced the agreements with Local 802 of the musicians’ union and with the American Guild of Musical Artists, its orchestra and chorus. Details of the agreements were not released.
A spokesman for the Met said the contract deadline has been extended through midnight Tuesday with the remaining unions.
The Met had set a deadline of midnight Sunday. A lockout could threaten the opera’s season, scheduled to start Sept. 22.
Allison Beck, deputy director of the mediation service, thanked Met General Manager Peter Gelb and the leaders of the two unions that settled Monday.