Contracts between the Metropolitan Opera and its unions are due to expire at midnight Thursday.

The Metropolitan Opera management proposed a federal mediator, Alison Beck, on Wednesday with the unions AGMA and Local 802 agreeing to the proposal. Parallel negotiations are taking place on different floors while stage hands moved out their tools not knowing whether they would be locked out on Friday as Met management had threatened.

The Met's general manager, Peter Gelb, announced cuts of over $30 million to work contracts claiming the Met is in financial difficulties. The cuts would represent pay cuts, pension cuts, health benefit contributions and changes to work rules. Management argues more than $200 million or two thirds of its annual operating costs are being spent on pay and benefits for the Met unions and its principal singers. The Board of the Met has agreed to launch a fundraising campaign to more than double its endowment over the next five years to $600 million, aligned with the reduction of costs.

Unions argue the cuts are draconian and punitive and don't address Gelb's expensive new productions and lavish spending and miscalculations. During Gelb's tenure as general manager over the last eight years, the budget has grown from $200 million to $300 million, and the number of new productions has doubled.  Unions say based on Gelb's own figures to get more people to see opera, it hasn't been successful -- the ticket sales are down, HD has plateaued. 

"I urge all sides to stay at the bargaining table until a fair contract can be hammered out through good-faith negotiations, not threats of a lockout. For over 130 years, the Met has been a fixture of New York City's cultural life -- a place where the world's greatest performers have inspired millions of people from across the five boroughs and every corner of the globe," Scott Stringer, New York City Comptroller, said in a statement.  "Tourism spent in New York City is an important driver of our economy, with more than $36 billion spent in 2012.  The Met's performers, stagehands, technicians, and assistants deserve a fair outcomes, as do the scores of restaurants, shops and other vendors that rely on the Opera for their livelihoods. I urge the Met to extend negotiations and not lock out its union workers."

The Metropolitan Opera said in a statement, "The Met plans to be in negotiations all day and into the night with representatives of its three largest unions-AGMA, Local 802, and Local One in the sincere hope that we will be able to agree to new contracts before midnight and continue preparations for our 2014-15 season without a work stoppage.  It's too early for us to know if we wil be able to extend the contract deadline, but the Met is willing to compromise, and if the other groups are as well, we're confident that we can reach new agreements."

In a related story, in March, the San Diego Opera's general and artistic director, Ian Campbell, threatened to close its doors due to financial difficulties stemming from declining box-office receipts and donations. There was a unanimous vote by the board but the decision caused an internal rift in the company that eventually resulted in the departure of thirteen board members, and the general manager was placed on leave. Under new leadership, San Diego Opera announced in late May it has reversed its decision to close and would produce a 2015 season.  

"In less than one month, a total of 2,461 San Diego Opera supporters contributed $2.1 million through a crowdfunding campaign," according to nonprofitquarterly.org. "Donations ranged from $10 to $50,000, with a median gift of $100. Lazier herself [San Diego Opera chair] contributed $1 million in the early stages of the crisis, which helped buy time to consider alternatives to shuttering the company for good."

In an interview with Latin Post, IASTE assistant director Joe Hartnett said the crowdfunding campaign was started by the three IA locals in San Diego.

"We understand that this a non-profit and we want the art form to grown and survive. These are good middle class jobs for our members and our whole job is to make the magic happen," said Hartnett. "And San Diego the members that worked there, they strived to go ahead and said let's put our money where our mouth is, raise some funds, let's talk to the politicians, the IA locals, in coordination with the board out there, they were able to salvage San Diego Opera -- it rose like the phoenix.  We would exactly be willing to do the same here. We would be more than willing to discuss everything on the table to make sure the Metropolitan Opera house, which is the grandest opera house in the North America and possibly the world, can continue to thrive for another 100 years."