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By:
Shaban Maxharraj
- November 27, 2024 08:29
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With their portraits spread across the steps of the Ministry, as a call to trample them as they consider them to be in reality, the striking actors of the National Theater of Kosovo have symbolically protested. "Today, through this symbolic action in front of the Ministry of Culture, we, the artists of the National Theater of Kosovo, make a public appeal to the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo to reflect on the serious, discriminatory and unacceptable situation of the artists", he said after the action actor Shkëlzen Veseli on behalf of the Strike Council
Those who have the patience to enter or leave the gate of the Ministry of Culture after 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, had two options: to make a law to avoid them or to step on the portraits of the faces of the actors of the Theater National team of Kosovo. Actors of this institution on the 12th day of the strike, which has paralyzed work at TKK, have made a symbolic action in front of the employer: the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.
"Strength lies in those who have the courage to seek justice", is the saying of the dissident playwright, the playwright of the well-known Polish politician, Vaclav Havel, who has been placed at the head of the institution. Through the scale portraits, among others, they have symbolically shown that they are violating the dignity of the artist through the evaluation that is done to them with wages. Their demand for coefficients, as they say, dignified, is 19 months old, the same time as the entry into force of the Law on wages in the public sector. Their coefficient was determined to be 8. The requirements were for 11.
"Today, through this symbolic action in front of the Ministry of Culture, we, the artists of the National Theater of Kosovo, make a public appeal to the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo to reflect on the serious, discriminatory and unacceptable situation of the artists", he said after the action actor Shkëlzen Veseli on behalf of the Strike Council.
According to him, artists are the wealth of a society and their influence goes beyond the stage or screen by documenting important historical and social events, and through creativity they preserve and convey the national and cultural identity to future generations.
"We remind the Ministry of Culture and the Government of Kosovo that our work and dedication to the National Theater cannot continue to be misused and that we are the most degraded in the region, not to mention Europe. We have given and will give everything for the Theatre, our home, working without hours, on weekends and on official holidays. Often, even the minimum standards of dignified treatment that an artist deserves are not respected", said Veseli.
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He considered that the legal discrimination that was done to them challenges the dignity of the actor's profession and is a mistake that will be remembered as the most serious insult that was done to the artist of the National Theater.
"This legal error originates from this institution which should take care of the artist and culture as the fundamental value of our national identity. We stand here today as a testament to our unity. We will not stop until we achieve our legitimate rights, our professional dignity and the respect that every artist deserves. The shame belongs to those who have forced us to come out here without our will to seek what should be ours by law and by right", he said. Adapting to the way of speaking of the prime minister of the country, Albin Kurti, Veseli repeated the saying of the American philosopher, Thomas Jefferson: "When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty".
The Ministry of Culture did not react during the day.
Besides blocking the work of the highest theater institution in the country, the strike has caused the third edition of the Albanian theater festival "Moisiu" to be cancelled. It will start on the 20th of this month.
On the day of the announcement of the strike on November 17, the actors said that the positive and substantive non-reaction of the Ministry of Culture has brought the situation to this point. They consider that they have been degraded by the Law on salaries in the public sector and demand "nothing more than a return to where they were ranked".
Actor Adrian Morina, in his capacity as a member of the Strike Council, explained the chronology leading up to the strike. He had mentioned the Regulation on the ranks and salaries of creators and performers of culture and professional employees of cultural heritage approved in 2011, and then the version of 2018. He had said that with the Law on salaries in the public sector, the actors of the TKK were degraded . With the 2018 version of the Regulation, those qualified as "theatre directors" had a salary of 800 euros, while the artistic director of this institution had a salary of 868 euros. With the Salary Law, actors have a coefficient of 8, while the artistic director has 13.
In the meeting they had with the Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku, they said that they did not manage to get a written commitment about the way and time to fix the issue of coefficients. KOHA found out that the Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku, tried to influence the actors not to go on strike by sending a well-known figure of the artistic community as a mediator, and at the same time a person in a marital relationship with one of the members of the Presidency of the Trade Union Association.
The Ministry of Culture has not responded regarding the announcement of the strike. During a media conference after the Government meeting two weeks ago, KOHA asked Minister Çeku about the strike warnings. He spoke about the Government's investments and called for positive reflection.
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"I invite once again (the actors vj) to reflect positively and not deny the citizens of Kosovo the right to see good performances in the Theater", said the Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku.
Until the strike, the actors came after the first warning in mid-September when rehearsals started 10 minutes late.
