Union Recovers $400,000 for Baltimore Opera Members

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) members  -- singers, dancers and production staff -- contracted by The Baltimore Opera Company will share more than $400,000 owed them after opera performances were cancelled in 2008 and 2009. When the Opera declared bankruptcy in 2009, AGMA sued under the union’s “pay or play” clause and recovered $149,620.81 earlier this year,  and an additional $265,903.02 was distributed to members last month. “Needless to say, our members were ecstatic with the work of AGMA in this most unfortunate situation,” AGMA’s Eleni Kallas tells Union City. “Our contract language and our efforts in litigation really worked!”