One day after the “Sous les écrans la dèche” collective, made up of freelance festival workers, issued a call for a strike during the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, organizers have issued a joint statement where they encouraged all parties to “come together around the bargaining table.”
The statement, signed by the Cannes Film Festival as well as parallel sections Directors’ Fortnight, Critics’ Week and ACID, said they acknowledge the “difficulties faced by some of their staff” due to a reform of the “French unemployment insurance scheme,” and that they “hope that solutions will be found.”
The organization is protesting against a looming labor reform that will see their unemployment indemnitiesslashed by more than half. The org brings together hundreds of workers at festivals, from projectionists to drivers and caterers, who are threatening to strike during Cannes which could potentially cause major disruptions.
France has a unique system which allows freelance workers within the film and TV industries to receive benefits during their unemployment periods. These benefits are only accessible to those who have worked a certain number of hours in the year.
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The French government is preparing to introduce a new decree on July 1 which freelance workers fear will raise the required number of hours that they must complete in order to seek unemployment benefits. Sous les écrans la dèche is demanding that part-time festival workers receive the same benefits as other stringers within the world of live entertainment. Indeed, those who work in theater or any other live entertainment jobs receive larger unemployment benefits because they are considered “intermittents du spectacle.”
Read the full statement from Cannes Film Festival below.
“We wish to emphasize that they are aware of the difficulties faced by some of their staff who, working on strings of contracts for film festivals, are affected by the reform of the French unemployment insurance scheme, and must grapple with a drop in their benefits.
Faced with this situation, we hope that solutions will be found, and are prepared to set up lasting dialogue conditions to support them.
Aware of the sounding board that the Cannes Festival and its parallel selections represent, we understand the timeliness of these demands. But in order to undertake a constructive reflection aimed at reforming the status of these workers, all the festivals concerned, the institutions and the unions need to come together around the bargaining table. This is the work that must now be undertaken collectively.”
