Scottish Opera faces court for ‘breaking jobs promise’

Published Tuesday 1 August 2006 at 14:40 by Nuala Calvi

Scottish Opera is set to be sued for breach of promise, after allegedly failing to honour an agreement to re-employ singers sacked as part of last year’s controversial scrapping of the company’s chorus.

Equity claims that 20 choristers who did not take voluntary redundancy when 88 employees were laid off last year as part of the deal with the Scottish Executive were told they would get first refusal for jobs on Don Giovanni, Carmen and Der Rosenkavalier.

However, the union insists that despite being told they had been successful in the auditions, the singers were not offered any work and the jobs went to outsiders. It later succeeded in getting some of the choristers jobs in the shows but two have still been left without work.

Scottish secretary Lorne Boswell told The Stage: “The company offered first refusal all this year, then completely ignored it. The chorus master was clearly under instruction not to use the full-timers.

“Only after other people turned down parts did we manage to get a number of them back in. It’s quite clear what they’re doing is clearing people out and trying to de-unionise the company.”

Earlier this year, strikes by Bectu members were also narrowly avoided after claims that employee relations consultants brought in by managers had attempted to bully staff into signing individual contracts in order to get the union de-recognised.

Equity says it has given managers “every opportunity” to arrange a settlement with its members but will now be making a substantial claim for compensation.

A Scottish Opera spokeswoman said all the pre-existing choristers had been given first refusal of jobs but two had failed the autition, which was why they were not invited to take up roles in Carmen or Don Giovanni. She added the company had not yet received any formal notice of legal action.

Plans to scrap the full-time chorus prompted more than 1,600 people to sign an electronic petition last year, while company members took part in a mass demonstration outside the Festival Theatre against the redundancies.

The cuts were part of money-saving measures instigated after Scottish Opera ran into financial difficulties and had to be bailed out with a £7.5 million rescue package.