The Opéra de Lyon has been occupied for several weeks, like many cultural venues in France. (archives) – AFP
The Opéra de Lyon, occupied since March 15 by a group of intermittent and precarious workers, announced on Friday that it had filed a summary with the administrative court in order to obtain their expulsion. “The occupation of the Opéra de Lyon, in particular for health and safety reasons, is not compatible with reopening to the public,” the management of the establishment explained in a statement.
“The Opéra de Lyon has already had to cancel artist and student residencies; today we are forced, despite the attempts at dialogue and the proposals made to the occupants, to give up our shows ”, she lamented, specifying that she had canceled in particular the two performances of the“ Coq d’Or ”by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, scheduled for Sunday and Wednesday. “Faced with this impasse”, a summary was filed with the administrative court in order to obtain “a decision to evict the occupants”. A hearing is scheduled for May 27.
A precedent in another ecological city, Bordeaux
The Lyon Opera, like the Villeurbanne TNP, has been occupied since mid-March by the Occupons 69 collective, bringing together intermittent and precarious workers, which notably denounces the reform of unemployment insurance for those involved in culture. He also asked for the reopening of cultural places, effective since Wednesday. Saturday, as part of a national movement, a demonstration “against the reform of unemployment insurance and in defense of Social Security” is to begin in front of the Opéra de Lyon.
For her part, Nathalie Perrin-Gilbert, the Culture Assistant to the ecological mayor of Lyon Grégory Doucet, said Tuesday, during a press conference, to have offered the occupants of the Opera a room to continue their movement, in a permanent effort of dialogue. On March 24, the ecological town hall of Bordeaux had the Grand-Théâtre of the city evacuated, occupied since March 15, the municipal police authorizing exits but blocking the entrance, an operation which had been punctuated by a few incidents.
First occupied by intermittents from the world of culture, with the support of the CGT, the establishment then welcomed new occupants whose demands were closer to the “convergence of struggles” and the fight against precariousness.