SHARE
COPY LINK

PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Dancers call off strike threat to Paris Olympics ceremony

Hundreds of dancers who were threatening to strike during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday have called off their protest after receiving a new pay offer, their union said.

Dancers call off strike threat to Paris Olympics ceremony
The Paris 2024 logo is seen on the stands from where spectators will watch the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris, on July 23, 2024. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)

The performers secured a rise in compensation for broadcasting rights during a final round of talks with Paris 2024 organisers on Wednesday, the SFA-CGT union said in a statement.

“This period has concluded with a victory, which although it is not total, is nonetheless a response to the urgent issues raised,” it said.

The union, which says it represents around 10 percent of the 3,000 performers involved in the opening ceremony, filed a strike notice last week over what it said were “outrageous disparities” in pay between dancers.

The deal agreed on Wednesday means that the lowest-paid dancers would receive between €160 to €240 extra for their performance on Friday evening, a union member involved in the negotiations told AFP.

Some of them had protested on Monday during rehearsals by the river Seine by stopping and holding their fists aloft for eight minutes.

READ MORE: Where to watch the Paris Olympics opening ceremony

The threat was an unwelcome development for organisers and risked deepening France’s reputation for labour disputes just as the eyes of the world fall on Paris for the start of the Games.

A whole host of French public sector workers have threatened strikes or stopped work ahead of the Olympics to demand bonuses for working over the July 26-August 11 event, which coincides with the summer holidays.

One-off payments of up to €1,900 have been agreed for police and municipal workers in Paris.

The opening ceremony is set to take place over a six-kilometre stretch of the river Seine, with around 6,000-7,000 athletes expected to sail down the river on 85 boats.

It will be the first time a summer Olympics has opened outside of the main athletics stadium.

A small union at Paris airport operator ADP has also filed a strike notice for Friday.

ADP management reached an agreement last week with most labour groups to end a dispute over Olympic bonuses.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Climate protest in Paris foiled on first day of Olympics

French police on Saturday blocked climate activists from holding a demonstration in central Paris on the first official day of the Olympic Games.

Climate protest in Paris foiled on first day of Olympics

Protesters from Extinction Rebellion (XR), once notorious for shutting down bridges over the Thames river in London, had planned to occupy the Pont des Arts bridge over the Seine, which had hosted the Games’ opening ceremony only hours earlier.

On Saturday morning, police officers “arrested 45 people belonging to a radical ecology group who were about to carry out a demonstration,” Paris prosecutors told AFP.

Security forces are on high alert nationwide after saboteurs early Friday disrupted train travel throughout France.

READ ALSO: Rail sabotage: What to expect if you’re travelling in France this weekend

The stint on the bridge, which organisers previously said would be “more visible than disruptive”, was called off after police arrested XR activists before the protest even began, the group said in a statement.

“Around 30 people were preventively arrested Saturday in Paris, without there being any offence to truly accuse them of,” Alexis Baudelin, one of the group’s lawyers, told AFP.

A group of journalists preparing to cover the protest were also kettled.

“The French government has deployed great resources to block our special Olympic action,” Extinction Rebellion France posted on X.

“Our democracy burns and we are watching the flame of Paris 2024.”

Activists are calling for more participative democracy and the creation of a citizen assembly to design a new constitution for France, which finds itself in a political impasse following elections earlier this month.

“We need a new model for society, which has to be fair and democratically accepted. We want to put citizens back at the heart of the political project that we want to see,” said Sandro, an XR activist who didn’t want to give his full name.

The foiled protest comes after nine XR activists, including a minor, were preventively arrested Friday east of Paris, according to Paris prosecutors.

On Tuesday, eight activists were also arrested and released for putting up stickers critical of the Games in the Paris metro.

Organisers of the 2024 Paris Olympics promised to take “unprecedented” action for the climate by halving the event’s carbon footprint compared to previous Games.

But academics and campaigners have been sceptical, criticising car giant Toyota’s sponsorship of the Games.

Earlier this month, around 100 scientists signed an open letter arguing that “Toyota’s promotion of a hydrogen car is scientifically misaligned with net-zero and will damage the reputation of the 2024 Games”.

Climate campaigners put up mock adverts in Paris and five other French cities this week highlighting Toyota as a high-emitting company.

Toyota previously told AFP that hydrogen would play “a critical role among different decarbonisation technologies”.

SHOW COMMENTS