"If the state does nothing, more than half of the show's intermittent workers fall into poverty." The words of the actor Samuel Churin at the microphone of Europe 1 translate the distress of the intermittent of the spectacle, which launch this Thursday a cry of alarm on their situation. Particularly affected by the coronavirus crisis, they claim to "play their survival" and challenge Emmanuel Macron via forums and petitions to request "a white year", that is to say the renewal of their rights to unemployment insurance for a year.
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"We have lost everything"
Led by cultural figures, including actors Catherine Deneuve and Omar Sy, these texts bring together several thousand signatories. Among them, the spokesperson for the intermittent and precarious, Samuel Churin. "We have lost our wages and the hours that go with it! We need 507 to qualify for unemployment insurance," he said. "But we have also lost the sales of all our shows, since the Festival d'Avignon does not take place, and it is the first world market in the field". And to sum up: "We have lost everything."
This is why "it is absolutely necessary that emergency measures be decreed, and is not debatable, because it is vital" advances the actor. "And when it's vital, we act immediately."
An unknown date for the reopening of performance halls at this stage
A situation all the more worrying as the date of reopening of cinemas, theaters, and concert halls remains unknown. Prime Minister Édouard Philippe only indicating in the presentation of his deconfinement plan, Tuesday before the National Assembly, that these places would remain "closed after May 11". Without forgetting that "all the events which gather more than 5.000 participants cannot be held before the month of September".