“Every night I have to check the next day’s schedule when I get home, because they’ve probably changed it.” An actor from Puy du Fou thus explains the volatility and instability of his schedules. A consultation that he carries out, without exception, at the end of each of his working days, which can last until after 11 p.m. “They usually share the planning a week before, but they are always subject to change,” comments this interpreter to elDiario.es, who prefers to maintain his anonymity.
This lack of control, together with the “absence of registration” of what their hours worked end up being, are two of the reasons – along with non-compliance with the Workers’ Statute – for which UGT Castilla-La Mancha has denounced in the Labor Inspection of the theme park located in Toledo, dedicated to the history of Spain. This complaint is added to the one that CCOO filed two weeks ago against Puy du Fou for forcing the actors to sweep and scrub bathrooms and changing rooms. The union alleged that the artists’ responsibilities “do not include having to clean common areas.”
The park is organized around eleven shows that are performed throughout the day (including passages and those that include lunch or dinner in its restaurants), from opening at 11 a.m. to closing at 10 p.m.: 30h, depending on the time of season. The cast is distributed among the different showsranging from Of such a suit…which addresses from the surrender of Granada to the War of Independence; to The dream of Toledothe star number, which is performed at night, before the park closes.
Artists and ushers (who are called ‘green sleeves’) are distributed among them, in such a way that there are those who participate only in one – which they perform on the same day two or three times -, or in several different numbers. UGT has denounced that the company “does not guarantee the daily recording of the day,” since “the document where workers are told to write down their hours is a sheet of paper that does not guarantee the reliability and invariability of the data.” .
This newspaper has contacted several of the artists and ushers who provide the shows that fill the park’s agenda, and they confirm that “only” this sheet exists in which they simply make them sign next to their name on the case of The dream of Toledo. There is no control over the rest. The union points out that all of this has the consequence that the employees – whose number amounts to more than 600 people – end up “exceeding the maximum of ordinary daily work hours” and the “annual limit of overtime.”
In addition, they criticize that there is “a total lack of payment, rest or consignment to the payroll” of these overtime hours; along with the fact that the company “systematically and knowingly fails to comply with the rest period between days.” From the park, when asked by elDiario.es, they did not want to give any statement on the matter.
Go to the gym, walk or sleep on a bench
This medium has had access to several examples of the planning which is sent to workers to inform them about what their days will be. In them it can be seen that – in addition to including the hours stipulated for cleaning, in gray –, this distribution of work generates long periods of breaks for which they are not paid. “Dead hours”, as they themselves define, in which the options they have are “eat, stay in the dining room, go to the gym that some of the shows have, wander around the park, see the rest of the shows.” shows or, if we are tired, sleeping on a bench.”
The problem is that for those who do not want to do more sports – the functions themselves require physical effort as they have choreography, fights and battles, to name a few – and prefer to rest; They do not have spaces to do it, beyond the dining room. A room that, as they describe, is “a little mediocre in terms of facilities, quite normal.” “There are colleagues who even lie down directly on mats and hammocks that we ourselves have hung,” admits one of the workers, who prefers not to reveal his identity, to elDiario.es. There are those who take advantage of their own decoration shows to improvise beds with bags and ropes.
“We have the freedom to do what we want in those spaces, but we are in the middle of nowhere, and going back and forth takes up a lot of time,” says one of the interpreters. The location of the theme park, on the outskirts of Toledo, is the great handicap that makes it difficult to return home to eat or do some other activity. A large part of the staff lives in Madrid, located 55 minutes away by car – as long as one is available – so it is directly unfeasible for them. The alternative with public transport is the train, but there is no means that offers the journey to the park gates.
In fact, on the space’s own website, the indication given to visitors on how to get there, which can be applied to workers, is: “We are just ten minutes from the Toledo Train station. You can access Puy du Fou by taxi.” On the information page they include as an alternative for the transfer to the plane, being the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport, located “approximately one hour”: “To get there from there, you can come by taxi or rental car.”
Stoppages can exceed three hours. For their internal organization, artists create their own tables, as this medium has seen, with which to keep track of their schedules. As can be seen in the images, it may happen that a worker’s arrival time is 11:30 and departure at 8:00 p.m., completing eight and a half hours in the facility, with 6 and a quarter hours worked – and charged– and 2 hours and 15 minutes of break –unpaid–.
As can be seen in the schedules, another actor can be summoned at 12 and leave at 8:15 p.m. But of those 8 and a quarter hours he spends in the park, only 5 hours and 15 minutes are counted as worked, while three are unpaid rest.
Short notice of schedules
The lack of advance notice with which workers are notified of their schedules, and that they are continually subject to alterations, is made more serious by the logistical complications involved in the location of the park. “Every day we have a planning different and they change it without warning,” laments an usher, who provides her testimony anonymously.
“The modifications are due to the capacity of the park. Depending on the tickets they estimate they will sell, they put on a program. A Sunday when they say that 3,000 people are going to attend, for example. If they suddenly sell more, they have to increase the hours in the planning to add more shows and get all the people together. It can end up changing completely,” he explains. “It can happen that there are up to seven versions of the same schedule until the final one is reached. The park lives by and for the public, so that more come and they earn more money,” says another actor.
It can happen that there are up to seven versions of the same schedule until the final one is reached. The park lives by and for the public, so that more come and they earn more money
A ‘Puy du Fou’ worker
In general terms, the workers organize among themselves to fill the cars of those who do have them and, depending on the hours at which each one enters, offer more or fewer spaces and pick-up locations. elDiario.es has had access to the WhatsApp group, called ‘Puy du cars Madrid’, which they use to distribute themselves. “The problem is, if I don’t know until the last minute which one I have to go to the next day, how am I going to know which one I have to go to to agree with my colleagues?”, says one of the actors, one of the who has his own vehicle.
“A few weeks ago they created an application similar to BlaBlaCar, but of course, we have been organizing ourselves for a long time,” he describes about a tool that they consider to have arrived late, beyond questioning some of its functions such as “rewarding a partner with a double ticket.” that more people carry.”
UGT concludes in its complaint that the conditions applied are “discriminating and marginalizing” workers. And that all of them, due to their “precarious condition, are forced to accept these conditions for fear of consequences and reprisals.” A conclusion that permeates the reflections of its employees. “If they make you work 10 hours to get paid later for six or seven, it shows that they don’t take care of you, that it’s not worth it,” laments one of the actors, who continues to be part of the staff.
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