'How many more talented creators do we have to lose to other sectors because they cannot reconcile the undervaluation with the quality of their product? People choose eggs for their money in the long run, when children need to be fed or mortgages paid. The sector is hollowing itself out if we don't take better care of our talent.' Thirty leaders in the cultural sector are speaking out today, through An open letter in daily newspaper Trouw, out against the poor payment of freelancers by the National Opera and Ballet.
The reason is the lawsuit brought by the Arts Union against the company, whose five directors each touch an average of one and a half tons a year, because choir members are hired at a rate of around 25 euros gross per hour. 'Far too often in our sector, intrinsic motivation of the performer is assumed, resulting in a 'race-to-the-bottom', to which the term "exploitation" unquestionably applies,' argue the signatories, including Johan GIjsen, director of the award-winning festival Le Guess Who in Utrecht, Willem Jaap Zwart of Enschede's Concordia and Mieke Franssen of the VSB Fund (and yours truly).
Less supply
In an art sector, where it is usually customary, to let the dirty laundry hang inside, the move by art managers and self-employed workers is unprecedented. Usually, people do not take the risk: open criticism can jeopardise job opportunities. The fact that the signatories also state that a reduction in supply must be accepted if necessary is just as remarkable: 'With given budgets, it is the duty of the institution's management to cut their coat according to their cloth'.
Read the entire letter below.
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English (UK) 
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Still a bit of a half story, the same arts union's collective labour agreement for theatre and dance scales actors and designers in scale 6: +/- E 3000 gross, which is E 25 / hour (incl. pension, holiday pay, employer's expenses), and the letter raises the question of whether there is an intrinsic motivation among producers to pay poorly, doesn't seem to me, rather the pie seems too small to me.
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