- "We are scared of the epidemic and for our work," comments Jean-Yves Ravoux, lyric artist and classical singer, illustrating the discomfort of many intermittent performers.
- A meeting was held on March 12 at the Ministry of Culture, where it was discussed the creation of a support fund for the whole sector and the reduction in the number of hours that give entitlement to unemployment benefit, but none of these measures have yet been taken.
When she is called, she is busy putting away her things just before the time for confinement strikes, ready to go green. But Emmanuelle Guélin, a 33-year-old dancer, is not only under the stress of most French men and women in this period, which is out of the ordinary for the country, linked to the coronavirus pandemic. As an intermittent, she saw all her shows canceled, falling one by one. And without benefiting like the other salaried and salaried employees from the assumption of responsibility of the wages by the State, since like many intermittent, its planned contracts were not signed. It is common for these employees to sign the contract on the same day of the employment relationship.
“I was at the Mogador theater on the musical Ghost and we were told that all our shows were suspended with resumption we hope on April 24. In parallel I give dance lessons, which have been canceled since Sunday. I had interventions in schools, similar, suppressed. And my hearings scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday for contracts for next year were also canceled, ”details Emmanuelle Guélin.
"We are at the end of the chain and we find the stuffing turkeys"
Like all intermittent workers, Emmanuelle Guélin benefits from unemployment until the renewal of her rights, twelve months after the famous "anniversary date". But many artists wonder if they will manage to do the 507 hours required in a year to continue to have intermittent status. The most unlucky and unlucky have already lost thirty pills during the pandemic period, while they would most often need forty to obtain the status. "The containment measures affect all sectors but when you have a permanent contract you are still protected, there, for intermittent workers the consequences will be dramatic", comments Claire Serre Combes, national secretary of the French Union of Performing Artists (SFA- CGT). Temporary workers are not yet part of the package of economic measures announced by Emmanuel Macron on March 16.
Especially since the world of culture has been hit for a longer time by the effects of the economic crisis linked to the coronavirus. The gatherings of more than 1,000 people were prohibited from March 8, those of more than 100 people on March 13, to finish, on March 14, by the prohibition made to all the "rooms of hearings, conferences, meetings , shows or multiple use ”to welcome the public until April 15, according to an order of the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.
For the past week, many artists and intermittent workers have lived in fear of the future. Jean-Yves Ravoux, lyric artist and classical singer, feels "very bad, in total anguish": "We are scared of the epidemic and for our work," he comments. We are at the end of the chain and we find the stuffing turkeys. It is also impossible for many cinemas to simply reschedule in a few months, the artistic seasons often being set years in advance.
"In a few days some people will have no more income"
Worried and worried about this situation, artists have started to organize. Nearly 50,000 people have signed an online petition requesting an extension of the anniversary date. A group of Lyric Singers from France was formed and sent an open letter which in particular draws attention to those entering and entering the profession: "The dry termination of one or more contracts for the coming months means total cessation of our professional activity as well as an immense loss of artistic opportunities, especially for the youngest among us, ”warns this letter. It was signed in particular by tenors, baritones and sopranos Roberto Alagna, Stéphane Degout, Sabine Devieilhe and Karine Deshayes.
Open letter from the Collectif des Chanteurs Lyriques de France.
CLOSING OF THE SHOWS: THE CRI OF THE HEART OF LYRICS SINGERS pic.twitter.com/PFfLSnjdXL
On March 12, around 60 people gathered in front of the Palais-Royal in Paris to ask the Ministry of Culture for protective measures. On the same day, a meeting took place at the Ministry of Culture, where avenues were outlined: creation of a support fund for the whole sector, reduction of the number of hours which give entitlement to unemployment benefit and finally the extension of the rights of those who have reached the end of their compensation period. But no decision has been made since this meeting, or since the announcements by the President of the Republic, Monday March 16 at 8 p.m. "They told us on Thursday that they were going to bring a solution within 48 hzuezq ... We are willing to give a few days to find a solution but will have to find them or in a few days some people will have no income", s' worries Denis Gravouil, secretary general of the CGT spectacle, who wants to maintain rights without time limit until the end of the crisis.
This lack of response arouses in some artists a feeling of abandonment. "Culture is not the priority," sighs Jean-Yves Ravoux. "It's very worrying and anxiety-provoking and we have little information," says Louis Presset, general delegate of FEVIS, the Federation of Specialized Vocal and Instrumental Ensembles. Others are more confident: Emmanuelle Guélin feels "well off" because she already knows that she will have work at the start of the school year. Another dancer, Sophie, says she is "serene" and has no doubt that measures will be taken.
"We are like lions in cages"
In the meantime, other aid systems already exist, which can be called upon in the event of a hardship. The social protection group Audiens has set up aid, which will be available as a priority to intermittent workers who are most in difficulty, at the end of their rights, who have lost a lot of cachet or are in a situation of serious illness or handicap, explains Isabelle Thirion, director of social development and individuals of the company. This could take the form of a rent payment or the payment of a major health expense. But in a very limited number. The Adami, an organization for the collective management of the rights of performers, also has a mutual aid fund.
To this stress of precariousness is added that of collective life which stops. Dancers, musicians, instrumentalists and other performing artists are used to being in a troop, in a group. For them, confinement seems much more difficult than for an employee who often works alone at home. “We are like lions in cages. We used to be always surrounded, to have a lot of people, we are always in a troop, in a pretty festive atmosphere, we play sports every day, it will be weird for one or two in a small space … ”, Worries Emmanuelle Guélin. A life to reinvent, like the rest of the population.
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