Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s 2,500 dubbing industry workers are on a protracted strike demanding higher wages, less frenzied work conditions, and protection against digital dubbing devices, which they claim threaten their jobs.
The country’s unions representing Italian voice actors and dubbing directors have been on the war path since Feb. 21. On Tuesday they announced the strike will continue for at least another week.
The unions are demanding that standard contract wages that have remained unvaried for the past 15 years be raised. But they are also clamoring for the right to be able to work at a slower pace, claiming that “current production rhythms are not conducive to [good] quality of work and of life,” according to a statement issued by Italian dubbers’ union ANAD. “Today it is unthinkable to continue working under obsolete contractual conditions, with regulations that do not take into account how much the audiovisual entertainment market has changed in the past ten years,” said ANAD president Daniele Giuliani in a statement.
He also went on to point out that there is currently no “safeguard as regards to the rights to our voices, which puts the entire sector at risk on a daily basis, fueling the risks of an improper use of artificial intelligence.” “The financial aspect is only one part of the problem,” Rodolfo Bianchi, head of Italy’s dubbing directors’ org.
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