More performances were cancelled at theaters and the opera in Norway, after a strike by workers in the cultural sector expanded and dragged into its second week. A total of 435 workers were out on picket lines heading into the weekend, demanding better pension benefits.
The strike does not involve actors, dancers, singers or musicians, who’ve been eager to get back on stage as Corona containment measures have eased. It’s rather key staff behind the scenes, like stage technicians and instructors, who walked off the job after five years of negotiations failed to result in “collective, life-long and gender-neutral pensions,” according to lighting technician Kato Adolfsen.
Newspaper Dagsavisen reported that the strike “may be long.” It’s now affecting the National Theater, Norwegian Opera & Ballet and Det Norske Teatret in Oslo, Den Nationale Scene i Bergen, Trøndelag Teater in Trondheim and Rogaland Teater in Stavanger.
newsinenglish.no staff