Rhetorical Punches Finally Thrown In St. Louis

The St. Louis Symphony strike/lockout (depending on whom you ask) is now a month old, and the odd civility that initially surrounded the situation appears to be all but gone. As the musicians crank up the PR machine, playing a free children’s concert at a local church, they are also taking shots at the SLSO management for refusing mediation and failing to make any counterproposal to what the musicians offered several weeks back. In return, the orchestra’s president is calling the musicians “really dumb” for not being willing to accept the management’s last contract offer, which would have dealt them a pay cut of more than $10,000.