Several performances that were to be held in the cultural place of the city of Paris had to be canceled, a consequence of a social movement against the “overactivity” of the structure but also the low wages of its employees.
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Inside the immense hall, it’s always the frenzy. Dozens of dancers warm up under the nave. Curious come out smiling at an exhibition on the consumer society. A young woman goes from the bookstore to the Emmaus shop. Everything is as usual in centquate, these old funeral pumps become an “infinite place of art, culture and innovation”, in the 19 e Arrondissement de Paris. Everything except, hung on a staircase, two unexpected banners: “Personnel of 104 under pressure”, “on strike”. On the doors, since January 31, butterflies glued by management confirm the problem: “Due to the social movement of part of the teams”, several representations are canceled.
For the second time since its opening, in 2008, the vessel of the city of Paris is affected by a labor dispute. The sign of the return of social issues in the cultural world, after two years when Cvid-19 dominated, all frozen. The symptom of a machine that flinks by strengthening in overgree.
“It’s untenable”
“We can not do it anymore”: Yvanne Bissac, Regessier, present from the beginning, summarizes the situation. “From year to year, the workload breaks up, and the workforce does not follow, it is untenable,” she explains, a brooch “The break is imposed on his beret. “We work with tense flow, and we do not always have the time to work properly, supports his colleague Frédéric Merrat, specialist in lighting. On certain events, I am ashamed of lights.” An old house confirms the problem , under the seal of anonymity: “Everyone ensures the work of two people. It is a great place, where people give themselves like crazy, but many of which come out crushed …”
Under the director’s ferrule, José-Manuel Gonçalvès, a workaholic, the Centquatre-Paris saw his activity as his audience inflate. Nearly 2,000 sessions in 2019, the last year before COVID-19. At the end of 2021, the phenomenon was accentuated, the projects initially postponed to those already planned. “This fall, the number of sessions increased by 30%, and the activity already intense has become unbearable, admits José-Manuel Gonçalvès. We have not been able to decelerate in time, hence this overpressure.” / p>
After a first alert in December 2021, the technicians launched a surprise strike at the end of January. They call into question the “overactivity” but also the low wages, “which does not reflect the commitment of employees”. Management quickly agreed to identify wages of some 80 permanent and 200 intermittent. But his proposals are still considered too weak, and the strikers renewed the movement, Friday, February 4th. Above all, some wonder about the economic model of the CentQuatre-Paris, which operates with 16 million euros of annual budget, half of which comes from the town hall of Paris, the other of the tickets and various resources. “Can this model hold if we put in front of the programming very intense the human resources really necessary?”, Wonders an employee. “Our economy is fragile”, recognizes the director.