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STRIKES

Swedish actors go silent in kids’ TV strike

Swedish actors who dub children's programmes from industry giants such as Disney are in their second week of strike action over wages that have remained stagnant for a decade.

Swedish actors go silent in kids' TV strike

“Television is part of children’s language development, and they have a right to good quality,” Swedish Actors Union (Teaterförbundet) Secretary General Jaan Kolk told The Local.

He said the profession had a lower status in Sweden because film and television is only dubbed for children, while many European countries dub near all productions. They also, Kolk noted, often have one domestic actor who always interprets the same Hollywood star.

“It’s easier to replace an actor dubbing for children, who may not be as observant as adults, than to pluck out the man who gets to dub Tom Cruise in every movie,” Kolk said.

Across Europe, however, the reliance on short-term contracts and freelancers made the actors more vulnerable, he added.

In Sweden, the union has calculated that salaries and freelance fees for dubbing actors have stayed at the same level since 2003, while wages across the Swedish labour market have gone up by about 30 percent over the past ten years.

A four-percent hike with the promise of regular re-negotiations was presented to two dubbing companies in April. The studios responded by asking for more time to consider the deal on the table, but when no response materialized, the actors went out on strike on April 26th, the actors went on strike.

About 150 of the union’s 2,400 actor members work for two dubbing studios, SDI Media and Dubberman, who translate and rerecord dialogue for children’s programmes from companies such as Disney, Warner, and Fox.

Two weeks into the blockade – with freelancers turning down jobs and salaried employees on strike – the union has accused the studios of bringing in strike breakers. The TT news agency tried and failed on Friday to reach the two studios affected by the blockade.

“We’re getting reports that they are willing to pay double fees to circumnavigate the blockade,” said Kolk.

“Our goal with the strike is not only to increase the wages, but try to introduce normal employer-employee relations in this segment of the labour market,” Kolk said.

Ann Törnkvist

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of 420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of 2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some 200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of 2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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