Amid Labor Fight, Met Opera Reveals Manager Earned $1.8-Million

The Metropolitan Opera, which is seeking pay concessions from workers who have threatened to strike over the cuts, paid its general manager, Peter Gelb, $1.8-million in salary and benefits in 2012, The New York Times reports, citing the organization’s latest tax filing.

The opera said that in April Mr. Gelb voluntarily took a 10-percent pay cut, reducing his base wage to $1.395-million, and that he is prepared to take further reductions “to match the percentage of cuts taken by the Met’s union employees.”

Met workers’ current contracts expire at the end of July. The company, which has a $327-million budget and some 3,400 full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees, is seeking to change work rules and benefits programs to reduce labor costs by 16 percent in the face of rising costs and declining ticket revenues.

Tino Gagliardi, president of the American Federation of Musicians unit that represents the Met’s orchestra, said the local “doesn’t take any issue with the general manager of the Met earning a competitive salary” but said the opera’s leader needs to “needs to be effective” in attracting audiences.