The Olympics opening ceremony is facing potential turmoil after a union of French performing artists issued a strike notice amid an escalating dispute with organisers.
With just nine days until the curtain raiser for the Games in Paris, the representative body for actors, dancers and acrobats claim complaints over pay and inequalities are being ignored.
“Contractual practices that are not in accordance with the collective agreement” and “glaring inequalities in treatment” were cited in the union’s complaint.
“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,” a statement from the French Union of Performing Artists [SFA] says.
“While the slogan ‘Doing better together’ is displayed today everywhere in the streets of Paris, we note that our employment conditions have not been discussed together, nor for the better.”
The union claims it has alerted Paname 24, an events firm with a leading role in organising the opening ceremony on the River Seine, “several times” of issues with “contractual practices”.
“We have also highlighted questionable practices, glaring inequalities in treatment, and a lack of social dialogue during the preparations for the ceremonies,” the union adds.
About 600,000 people expected to be in attendance
The group claims to have received no response to a series of questions around pay fluctuating “from €60 for intermittent workers in the entertainment industry” to “€1,610 for employees who have benefited from successful collective negotiations”.
The group also takes issue with Parisian artists not being “reimbursed and housed” to the same extent as artists from other areas.
“We proposed an open discussion to find solutions acceptable to all, within the time constraints linked to the approach of the ceremonies,” the union says. “But, to date, Paris 2024 and Paname 24 seem to be playing for time, by not scheduling any new meetings.”
Both organisations have been contacted for comment by Telegraph Sport. It is not clear how many performing artists the union represents at the opening ceremony. No names have been announced yet for the event, but 3,000 artists and 400 dancers are expected to take part.
Instead of the usual stadium setting, athletes will parade along the Seine, with each nation allocated their own boat.
Aside from the 10,500 athletes who will be there, there are 600,000 people expected to be in attendance, watching along the streets of Paris.
Paris has been hit with a series of strike threats in the months leading up to the Games, but most have been called off. On Tuesday, Paris airport workers abandoned one that would have disrupted travel after reaching a deal on bonuses, labour and management.
Charles de Gaulle airport is expecting peaks of 300,000 travellers passing through in a single day; well above the summer daily average of 200,000. The busiest days are expected to come after the Olympics closing ceremony on August 11 when spectators, officials and most of the 10,000 athletes head home.
