WNO chorus votes for further action

UK performing arts and entertainment industries trade union Equity has today announced that the chorus of the Welsh National Opera has voted unanimously to take further action short of strike this week. Shows on 27 February and 1 March will be affected by the action, which has previously consisted of chorus members wearing #SaveOurWNO t-shirts during performances, as well as leafletting audience members.

The action will be taken while negotiations with WNO management continue. Although progress towards has been made around the chorus’ pay and full-time status, its members have decided to continue to ‘stand strong’ against proposed compulsory redundancies and continue to voice concerns about unsustainable schedules. The chorus will soon be balloted again on whether to extend the mandate for industrial action after the current mandate runs out.

Equity’s Wales official Simon Curtis said: ‘The chorus of the Welsh National Opera have been taking part in action short of strike over several dates since September. Although negotiations are progressing, the chorus’ decision to take further industrial action shows that there is much that needs protecting – from avoiding compulsory redundancies, to schedules that don’t detrimentally affect their ability to care for loved ones or maintain a healthy work-life balance, in addition to guaranteeing proper levels of pay and safeguards. Removing the threat of compulsory redundancy altogether is the only guaranteed way our dispute will be resolved, thus removing the requirement for our upcoming ballot of the chorus to extend their mandate for industrial action.’

The industrial action continues against a backdrop of a 40% cut in funding in real terms since 2010, which is only slightly eased by the Welsh government’s allocation of £4.4m top up to Wales’s arts and culture in its 2025-26 budget.

Curtis added: ‘While we welcome additional funding being made available by the Welsh government to the Arts Council of Wales, sadly the damage had already been done with the initial cut last year… Despite this announcement, Wales still has the lowest funding for arts and culture in Europe and a more sustainable longer-term strategy for funding is required as a matter of urgency.’