intermittent entertainment workers demonstrate against a possible tightening of their regime

Several hundred intermittent entertainment workers gathered this Friday, November 8 morning at the call of the CGT in front of the Unédic headquarters in Paris to protest against an employer plan to toughen their unemployment insurance rights. In a document submitted to the unions on Wednesday and which must be discussed during the day, Medef proposed to increase the minimum number of hours worked over the last 12 months to be able to benefit from the intermittent regime from 507 to 580 hours for artists and 610 hours for technicians.

As intermittent workers in the entertainment industry are, by the nature of their activity, more frequently unemployed than other employees, their sector benefits more from the allowances than it contributes and is regularly the subject of criticism due to its high cost for the worker. unemployment insurance.

“The sector is mobilized and it will not accept reductions in rights for intermittent workers in the entertainment industry”warned the general secretary of the CGT Spectacles Ghislain Gauthier. “If these measures were adopted, a third of intermittent workers would leave the regime”he said, speaking of “very serious threat” et “provocation towards our professions”. Around 10 a.m., the number of demonstrators was estimated by the CGT at between 300 and 400.

400 million euros in savings to be found

Friday's negotiations, which also concern the employment of seniors, must be concluded on November 14 and the new unemployment insurance agreement will replace the current rules for compensation for the unemployed from January 1. The government asked the social partners to find an additional 400 million euros compared to the agreement concluded in November 2023, signed by the CFDT, FO and the CFTC as well as by all employers' organizations, but which had not not been approved by the Attal government due to lack of agreement on seniors.

In its draft amendment to the 2023 agreement, Medef proposed, to generate savings, to tighten the conditions of compensation for intermittent workers in the entertainment sector but also to reduce the allowances of cross-border workers who receive compensation calculated on the based on their salaries received abroad, which are most of the time much higher than in France, particularly for those who worked in Switzerland and Luxembourg.