Washington Ballet Declines Offer for Mediation in Labor Dispute

By Ben Mattison
January 9, 2006

Washington Ballet's management has rejected a proposal that Michael Kaiser, the president of the Kennedy Center, mediate the company's dispute with its dancers, the American Guild of Musical Artists says.

According to AGMA, which represents the dancers, the proposal was made by the Independent Artists of America, the union that represents American Ballet Theatre's dancers, and accepted by AGMA.

Jason Palmquist, the executive director of Washington Ballet, confirmed for the Washington Post that the company had declined Kaiser's help. "We don't feel that this time is the right time to seek mediation," Palmquist told the paper.

Kaiser helped turn around the Royal Opera House and New York's Alvin Ailey Dance Theater before coming to the Kennedy Center, and is widely seen as a brilliant administrator. He told the Post that he was willing to participate in the talks if both sides agreed.

The mediation offer came last week during the first talks since Washington Ballet canceled its December run of The Nutcracker. In a statement, AGMA suggested that the negotiations were going badly. According to the union, company officials opened the talks on January 3 by declaring that the company would "close down rather than accept the dancers' proposals" for setting the size of the company and limiting artistic director Septime Webre's right to fire dancers.

Palmquist painted a different picture for the Post, saying, "I think great progress was made this week" on issues including parking spaces and the number of performances. He acknowledged that management would not negotiate over the size of the company.

The union also said that management has sought to block dancers' efforts to collect unemployment insurance. Dancers claim that they have been locked out, while management says the work stoppage is a strike. Unemployment insurance is not available for striking workers.