Since this Monday, freelancers have mobilized on the forecourt of the TNN in Nice to protest against the unemployment insurance reform and government decisions deemed “insufficient” to help many freelancers, artists, students… who are struggling.
Freelancers want to make their voices heard. We, freelancers in employment, entertainment, artists, technicians, cultural agents, students, and unemployed people, have been occupying the National Theatre of Nice since this Monday. We are continuing the wave of theater and performance space occupations across France, inspired by the occupation of the Théâtre de l’Odéon in Paris on March 4, 2021.
The Deep Reasons for the Gathering
It has now been exactly one year since the health crisis began. 365 days later, we are still experiencing its consequences, politically, socially, economically, and culturally. Today, entire sections of our society are falling into a social emergency to which “public authorities have not wished to respond,” stated the freelancers and the disadvantaged of the Côte d’Azur in a press release. “We are far from Emmanuel Macron’s promises that he would not leave anyone stranded.” they added.
Supported by the yellow vests and CGT members, the freelancers gathered in dozens on the forecourt of the National Theatre of Nice, which they have been occupying since the start of the week. Several students in precarious situations, who find themselves obliged to work to finance their studies and pay their rent, have joined them. The freelancers in employment, entertainment, artists, and students express their dissatisfaction with the government and its measures, starting with the “lockdown” imposed on the world of Culture, which has continued for too long.
The Case of Students in Precarity
“Students left to their economic distress and social isolation, the cultural world considered non-essential and still not reopened, the two million freelancers in employment (CDDU), seasonal workers, master of ceremonies, tour guides, etc., have been condemned to social death by the government. Permanent jobs are weakened in cultural structures, leading to the deterioration of working conditions for employees and public agents. The public service mission of culture is increasingly less assured.”
Tressie, a student at the theater conservatory in Nice, says she is outraged by the situation that many students face: “This agora is for the disadvantaged, and students are disadvantaged. Precarity has become a ‘mandatory’ stage when you have this status. I am forced to work beside my studies to pay my rent. I am also concerned regarding freelancing because last year, I collected funds to finance my studies by performing music in the street with a band. Now, we are no longer allowed to do this. I don’t see what the problem is as long as people don’t gather in hundreds.”
The assembled members demand:
- The outright withdrawal of the unemployment insurance reform and the opening of social protection to everyone.
- The extension of the “blank year,” its expansion to all precarious workers, freelancers in employment. A reduction in the minimum hours threshold to access unemployment benefits for newcomers or freelancers whose rights have lapsed.
- Emergency measures to ensure access to daily maternity, paternity, and illness allowances for all workers with discontinuous employment, authors, and freelancers.
- The maintenance of permanent jobs in cultural structures.
- The creation of a live performance sector within the public service.
- Emergency measures for young people and students facing financial and psychological precarity. An employment access support plan.
- Abolition of the prefectural decree banning the practice of live performance in public spaces.
- General assemblies to accompany the reopening of venues: no reopening without social rights.
Following this, a demonstration will take place in Nice, starting at Nice Ville station (Gare Thiers) next Saturday.
