but there are requirements on their non-contractual return ...
Last Updated: March 01. 2011 3:17PM
DSO musicians vote to return to work with no contract
Michael H. Hodges / Detroit News Fine Arts Writer
Striking Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians today voted to return to work without a contract if management accepts their plan for binding arbitration, they announced in a press conference outside of Orchestra Hall this afternoon.
In a press release on the subject, the musicians said they would offer a plan to "end the strike by returning to work under the conditions management has imposed on the employees and without a new contract settlement."
That plan includes binding arbitration with three arbitrators, one chosen by each side and the third chosen by the arbitrators themselves.
"We're very encouraged the musicians took this important step," said DSO spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt at the conference. "Clearly our legal team needs to talk to their lawyers to determine the conditions under which the musicians would return."
The musicians are ready to return to work once there's an agreement on the arbitration, said principal horn player Karl Pituch.
Management's implementation of a contract with more than 30 percent pay cuts in first-year base pay sparked the Oct. 4 walkout. In January, DSO officials put a more generous offer on the table with cuts of about 20 percent, but withdrew it and suspended the rest of the 2010-2011 seasons when musicians rejected the proposal Feb. 19. The arbitrators would work with the offers each side proposed in January before those talks failed.
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From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110301...return-to-work-with-no-contract#ixzz1FNiegJ9i