Paris Olympics opening ceremony is thrown into chaos

Photo: Guide Touristique

French trade unionists are threatening to bring chaos to the Paris Olympics as dancers signed up to perform filed a strike notice just one week before the opening ceremony, citing low pay and 'glaring inequalities in treatment', ‘The Daily Mail’ informs with a touch of satisfaction.

With just a week to go until the lavish boat procession down the River Seine (photo), available tickets cost between £700 and £2,200, with hospitality packages more than £3000.

Such figures for a ceremony lasting less than four hours have incensed the unions, who say that profits are not being shared with ordinary workers.

Many of the 3000 dancers, acrobats and actors who will contribute to the show are working for exceptionally low wages, or even for free, with a union representing the performers saying hundreds of them were recruited under 'shameful conditions'.

A spokesman 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.'

It is the latest catastrophe facing Games organizers in the French capital who are already contending with heightened security and environmental concerns, not to mention a French government gridlock after hotly contested elections gave no party a clear majority.

The union has attempted to negotiate with the private firms organising the Olympics opening ceremony, highlighting 'questionable practices, glaring inequalities in treatment, and a lack of social dialogue during the preparations for the ceremonies.'

Many show dancers were recruited 'under shameful conditions, or without payment,' said the spokesman.

It comes as other unions threaten similar strike action during the ceremony, which is expected to be attended by up to 600,000 people.

Pay rates for the evening range between the equivalent of around £50 to £1400 for entertainment professionals.

Hundreds of volunteers earning nothing at all will also be on duty throughout the evening.

The performers' union is part of the CGT Confederation of General Workers, which represents the largest number of state employees across France, and it has filed a strike notice covering the entire Olympics and Paralympics.

CGT spokesman Céline Verzeletti said: 'The advance notice covers all employees in the health sector, local authorities and the state.'

The threat of industrial action comes at a particularly difficult time for President Emmanuel Macron, who is currently relying on a provisional government following poor parliamentary election results.

His prime minister Gabriel Attal handed in his resignation after Macron's party lost out but the president requested that Attal stay on to help run the country while parties squabble over powersharing agreements as they try to form a new government.

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