Strike averted 1 day before opening of Germany’s Bayreuth Festival celebrating Wagner

Strike averted at Germany’s Bayreuth Festival

BAYREUTH, Germany — Union leaders say they have signed an agreement with organizers of the Bayreuth Festival, avoiding a strike one day before the world-famous Wagner celebration was to begin.

Ver.di union spokesman Hans Kraft says workers “are relieved” because they achieved what they wanted.

The festival’s organizers were not immediately available for comment Friday.

Kraft says the new labor contract for around 170 stage technicians will cost the festival an additional €600,000 a season ($854,000), with some workers receiving a pay raise of up to 30 percent.

The technicians will now get salaries commensurate with those at state theaters in Germany.

The festival opens Saturday with Christoph Marthaler’s staging of “Tristan and Isolde” and runs through Aug. 28.