By: Eva Li

Dancers in France called off a threat to strike during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris after event organizers met some of their demands, labor unions said on Wednesday. Thousands of dancers, musicians and other performers are expected to line the bridges and banks of the Seine River on Friday for the ceremony.

Which, for the first time ever, was being held outside, rather than in an enclosed sports stadium. Some dancers, angered by disparities in pay, had threatened a walkout. which would have partly disrupted a widely anticipated and high-risk event that will be watched by millions across the world. About 200 dancers even briefly interrupted a rehearsal on the banks of the Seine in protest.

Standing motionless with their fists raised up in the air for the duration of their eight-minute routine. Labor unions were complaining that about 250 to 300 dancers employed on temporary contracts were being unfairly treated compared with the majority of the production’s dancers. Who are full-time employees of dance or ballet Companies.

But the S.F.A.-C.G.T. union, which represents artists and performers, said after a meeting with the Games organizers on Wednesday that it had reached a deal on one of the dancers’ main demands: increased broadcast royalties for the temporary contract dancers. Who previously were going to receive far less than others.

So, in a statement, the union claimed a victory that was not total and said the dancers had agreed to lift their strike threat. The Paris 2024 Organizing Committee welcomed the outcome, calling the discussions with the dancers “constructive.”

“The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be a unique moment of celebration and unity,” the committee said in a statement. “And we are delighted that it will be held under satisfactory conditions for all those involved.”

But the union was unsuccessful in another of its main demands: increased housing and transportation stipends to ease the financial burden of dancers from outside the Paris region. Labor unions have also worried that dancers positioned on some of the French capital’s rooftops along the Seine are not receiving adequate protection from lead dust that has accumulated there over the years because of erosion. That might have been deposited there more recently by the 2019 fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Ghislain Gauthier, the secretary general of the C.G.T.-Spectacle, an umbrella union for cultural and show business performers, said that it was unclear whether the organizers had followed rules or governing work sites. So it wasn’t clear whether there was a risk of risk of lead contamination.

Sources:
Dancers Drop Threat to Strike During Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony – The New York Times (nytimes.com)