Olympics 2024: Dancers call off strike threat ahead of Paris Games opening ceremony

Hundreds of dancers who were threatening to strike during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday have called off their protest after receiving a new pay offer, their union said.

The performers secured a rise in compensation for broadcasting rights during a final round of talks with Paris 2024 organisers on Wednesday, the SFA-CGT union said in a statement.

“This period has concluded with a victory, which although it is not total, is nonetheless a response to the urgent issues raised,” it said.

The union, which says it represents around 10 percent of the 3,000 performers involved in the opening ceremony, filed a strike notice last week over what it said were “outrageous disparities” in pay between dancers.

The deal agreed on Wednesday means that the lowest-paid dancers would receive between 160-240 euros ($150-$260) extra for their performance on Friday evening, a union member involved in the negotiations told AFP.

Some of them had protested on Monday during rehearsals by the river Seine by stopping and holding their fists aloft for eight minutes.

The threat was an unwelcome development for organisers and risked deepening France’s reputation for labour disputes just as the eyes of the world fall on Paris for the start of the Games.

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