French president Emmanuel Macron has been plunged into crisis after a new wave of trade union strikes have been announced ahead of the 2024 Olympics. France’s capital city, Paris, is among one of the locations to host the historic games which begin later this week, with more than 10,000 athletes arriving to compete.
A rehearsal for the opening ceremony “did not go as plan” after dozens of dancers refused to dance, instead raising their fists in the air to protest “unequal treatment”. French trade unionists have since declared that dancers that had signed up to perform in the opening ceremony have filed a strike notice due to low pay and “glaring inequalities in treatment”.
The trade unionists have said that the gross profits from the Olympics have not been fairly shared with ordinary workers, with over 3,000 dancers, acrobats and actors contributing to the show working for extremely low wages or even for free. The union have also revealed that hundreds of the performers were recruited for the ceremony under “shameful conditions”.
In a statement, a spokesperson for France’s Union of Performing Artists said: “‘At this very moment, dress rehearsals for the ceremonies are underway, and we regret to have to announce the filing of a strike notice for the show on July 26, 2024, as well as for the next rehearsals of the opening ceremonies of the Paralympic Games.”
In the lead up to the Olympics, French president Macron has been hit with issue after issue, from relying on a provisional government after election results to a dip in ticket sales. Earlier this week, it was revealed that at least half a million Paris Olympics tickets remain unsold, and major events such as the opening ceremony on Friday will be performed to reduced crowds.
On Monday evening, the ticket site for Paris 2024 showed plenty of availability including cycling, swimming, rowing, rugby sevens and gymnastics. The Times reports that there has been surprise over the number of tickets that remain unsold for the major sporting events, particularly the 100m final.
Speaking to MailOnline, Paris Game organisers insisted that the Olympics had followed the law when hiring workers. In a statement, they said: “Paris 2024 takes the working conditions of all those contributing to the success of the Games very seriously.
“We have been in touch with Paname 24, our service provider responsible for recruiting the dancers for the opening ceremony, in order to confirm the level of employment conditions in effect. Paris 2024 has verified that Paname 24 has strictly followed the law when applying the collective bargaining agreement that applies to the dance profession. Further, the dancers’ remuneration is above the minimum levels established by their collective bargaining agreement.
“Paris 2024 and Paname 24 are committed to continuing collective discussions; we are involved in regular dialogue with the SFA-CGT union and have every intention of continuing to do so.”
The Olympics will begin on Friday, July 26 with the opening ceremony to take place in Paris.
