The National Dance Company (CND) will go on strike on December 19, in the middle of the “NumEros” season at the Zarzuela Theater, if Inaem does not respond to the demands that the company has been making for many years. “Since 1995, salaries … “They have not been reviewed or updated, just like the only remuneration supplement which, due to inflation and the lack of updating, has become obsolete (…) We ask for an urgent update of remuneration supplements to get out of an unsustainable situation, a realistic review of salaries, allowances and conditions”, indicates the note which raises its voice before Inaem. This situation is unknown neither to this body nor to the Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun. As ABC learned, The minister became aware of this situation after visiting the headquarters of the National Ballet of Spain (BNE), which also signed the note, and speaking with some dancers after a rehearsal last March.. “They explained the situation, the demands they made, the failings we experience every day, but they did nothing,” one of the artists told ABC.
Culture’s response, they say, has been minimal. A few weeks ago, the CND and the BNE sent a letter to Inaem to explain their situation. “Today the average Spanish salary is 40.5% higher than the basic salary of a CND dancer, which leaves us in a situation of precariousness and despair in the face of the incessant increase in the cost of living in Madrid,” they explained in a statement, where at the same time they expressed that “overtime must always be recognized and financially compensated, never replaced by forced breaks incompatible with the profession.” There was no response to these requests. “We feel absolutely helpless because there is profound indifference on the part of Inaem,” admitted a dancer.
The truth is that the dancers of the National Dance Company have remuneration, it is said, which has not been reviewed for three decades. Some of them explained to ABC that the salary established in 1995 had changed from pesetas to euros and that since then they have hardly seen their salary change. This salary is also surprising if we compare it to the rest of the salaries of national dance companies in neighboring countries like Portugal, Germany or France. In Spain, the minimum wage is 1,184 euros gross, the basic salary for dancers is 1,750 euros, or only 47% more than the minimum wage.. These are very different figures from other countries, such as Germany, where the minimum wage is around 2,200 euros, while salaries at the Berlin Staatsoper have a base of 3,800 euros, or 73% higher than the German minimum wage. However, in countries with lower minimum wages, the difference is also evident. While the minimum wage in Portugal is around 870 euros, the basic salary of a dancer in the National Dance Company there is just over 2,000 euros gross. This is 130.8% more than the minimum wage.
The salaries of CND dancers are different from those of the rest of the national dance companies of other European countries, but also from those of the other groups that make up Inaem, such as the Coro del Teatro de la Zarzuela, which has a base salary of 2,500 euros, almost a thousand euros more than that of the dancers. ANDThe members of the National Orchestra of Spain also stand out from the dancers, with around 38,500 euros gross annually plus supplements compared to around 24,500 from the CND.
Another problem that worries dancers concerns the overtime that Inaem must compensate. The work of an artist is different from that of most civil servants. Their body is their work tool, so they must maintain an adequate rhythm so as not to be exploited or at the same time rest excessively. Daily work is necessary. However, the way Inaem has established to compensate for all overtime has been to set a maximum of 60 financially paid hours, from there days off will be offered depending on the remaining hours.
This situation has prevented many dancers from recovering the work done during these overtime hours, as stopping is not an option. “It is unacceptable that overtime is compensated by days off, a practice incompatible with the reality of a high-level artist. The circuits advance thanks to days of up to 9 hours and availability must be total – 24 hours a day – which is not duly compensated.“. Today there are CND members who have at least 120 days to compensate if they add up all the hours owed to them. “It is unthinkable that a dancer would be unemployed for more than three months,” certain members admitted to this newspaper.
Added to this is that the dancer’s career is also different from that of others. While retirement age is usually around 65, a dancer’s retirement age, with any luck, ends around 40. Time is money and work is pressing if they want to have a long career, so for them, three days of overtime compensation is not a possibility. “We asked for financial compensation for even half of that time, but nothing. They don’t see it as feasible“, explained an artist to ABC.
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