Written by Kianna Best on Dec 18, 2023. Posted in General Interest

French audiovisual sector goes on strike

Following an ongoing demand for a salary increase, French film and television industry professionals will commence their strike on Tuesday 19 December. Described as a national day of multifaceted mobilisations, local labour union SPIAC-CGT announced the gathering set to take place tomorrow in front of the Ministry of Culture in Paris.

French labour union SPIAC-CGT has called for a 20% increase for crew members working in production since 20 September, met to no avail. Displeased with a 5% increase offer from bargaining organisations such as USPA, SPI, SPECT and SATEV, the SPIAC-CGT have announced that they will be going on strike. This follows a three-day strike which took place last month, impacting the production of projects such as AMC’s The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and Canal+’s Marie Antoinette.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - Image courtesy of Emmanuel Guimier/AMC

In a call for action, SPIAC-CGT stated: “By their deafness, they force us to continue the conflict; they will therefore be solely responsible for the impacts on current and future projects.”

From 13 December, the union called for all members of the audiovisual sector to exercise all forms of strike movement, such as the refusal to freelance and walkouts. In addition to the gathering outside of the Ministry of Culture in Paris, protesters have been encouraged to sign the appeal that has been created for the ministers of culture, labour and the director of the CNC. With an inevitable impact to the livelihood of many directly invested in the industry and on the periphery, there has also been warning of a continuation of the strike into the new year.

With around 70 television productions already impacted by previous industrial action and a demonstration that took place in front of the Audiovisual Production Union last month, the upcoming strike action pressure will bring another halt to local production, as well as international projects. Whilst the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes earlier this year allowed waivers for certain productions to progress, the French labour union will not be allowing such liberties.