Monday night concert at Harriet Bandshell canceled due to park workers strike

The Minnesota Orchestra will not perform at the Lake Harriet Bandshell on Monday night in observance of the ongoing park workers strike.

“The Orchestra’s decision to not perform the concert is out of respect for the important union relationships that our musicians (who are members of the American Federation of Musicians) and stage crew colleagues (who are members of IATSE) hold,” spokesperson Gwen Pappas of the Minnesota Orchestra wrote. “Additionally, anytime the Orchestra performs we also want to make sure it is a positive experience for audiences, and we weren’t certain what the environment for this concert would be like.”

This is the third show of the Minneapolis Park Board’s popular Music and Movies in the Parks summer series to be canceled. Over the weekend, the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra also called off two concerts.

The Laborers Local 363 strike is composed of over 300 park maintenance workers including parkkeepers and arborists who care for trees, keep the grounds clean, trash bins emptied and pools up to code, among other tasks. They have been on a weeklong strike since July 4 over stalled contract negotiations.

On Monday, Local 363 filed their second unfair labor charge since December after the Park Board threatened to lock out striking workers when they attempt to return to work on Thursday. Their first unfair labor charge from earlier this year concerned work rules imposed by management banning employees from speaking critically of the Park Board.

Before park workers aim to end the strike and return to work on Thursday, there will be Bandshell concerts by Bloodlines, Indigie Femme, Eb and Barb and JoJo Green. All those shows are still scheduled to go on.