Strikes Return to Paris Opera; Nov. 14 Nutcracker Cancelled

By Matthew Westphal
November 13, 2007

Just as French unions warned last week, technical workers at the Opéra National de Paris are resuming strikes, beginning tomorrow. As a result, tomorrow's opening night performance of the Paris Opera Ballet's Nutcracker, in the choreography created for the company by Rudolf Nureyev, has been cancelled.

This is the second work stoppage at the Opéra in less than a month: five days of walkouts in late October caused the cancellation of ten performances and cost the company €2.2 million.

So far, it seems, the administration of the Opéra intends to call off performances only one at a time, as necessary. The largest of the striking organizations, the trade union confederation CGT, has planned one-day walkouts, renewable indefinitely. Another union, CFDT, has called a strike for Nov. 14-22; three smaller unions announced a stoppage from tomorrow through the end of the month.

These walkouts by technical workers — which have not as yet been joined by the Opéra's performers and artistic staff — are but one part of the continuing strikes throughout France over President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to reform the various national union pension schemes.