Fresh wounds

The private and public battle that led to the deal has left the organization with some fresh wounds. But even if the various parties weren’t thrilled, at least they could be relieved that this ugly chapter in the symphony’s 120-year history was over. After two and a half months, symphonic music returned to Heinz Hall on Friday.

For a time, it seemed like this work stoppage could have gone nuclear. The rhetoric in the labor dispute quickly had turned ugly, and the sides traded barbs on social media and on their websites. The PSO management insisted on a contract that would slash players’ salaries by 15 percent in the first year, while the musicians’ most recent offer still included pay increases.

The two sides didn’t even meet for about a month after the strike began. Most of the fall concerts had been canceled, and several outside performers had postponed or nixed their own Heinz Hall shows so as not to cross the musicians’ picket line.

“I think that was a real possibility,” orchestra committee chairman Micah Howard said when asked whether the season could have been canceled. “That was a real possibility.”

Help from mediators

The two sides and their lawyers were not slugging it out on their own. Two federal mediators joined the talks in September, shortly before the strike began, and both management and musicians give them credit for helping to resolve the dispute. (Due to confidentiality requirements, federal mediators do not comment on negotiations to the press.)

With help from the federal mediation service, the PSO was connected with an independent analyst who reviewed the orchestra’s finances and presented his assessments