(ANSA) Rome, October 21 - The first night of the opera Rigoletto was due to go ahead at the Rome Opera Theatre Tuesday but performers planned to read a message to the audience protesting the mass sacking of 182 orchestra and choir members, trade union officials said.
Earlier the troubled opera house's personnel manager, Stefano Bottaro, met with union leaders and rejected a request to rescind the sackings in return for a discussion over productivity levels and costs.
The artistes said they were disappointed with the decision but that they would perform the first night show.
One union representative, a choir member, Pasquale Fallaci,said he had been sacked for speaking to the press about the dispute but the Opera management rejected the charge, claiing the singer was fired for fraudulently stamping his wife's employment card.
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