PARIS (AFP) — The Paris Opera cancelled two more performances on Tuesday, Verdi's "Traviata" and Puccini's "Tosca", the fourth day of a strike expected to cause losses of 2.2 million euros (3.1 million dollars).
In all, the opera has cancelled eight performances since Friday due to a wildcat strike over pension reform, four of them for "Tosca" which had sold out at the Opera Bastille with 2,735 tickets sold.
Strikers have threatened to continue the action through Wednesday.
Staff at the state-owned Paris Opera and Comedie Francaise joined protests earlier this month over plans by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government to reform special pension benefits enabling early retirement for 500,000 public sector workers.
The 1,680 permanent staff of the Opera have one of the oldest pension systems in France, created in 1698 by Louis XIV for the Opera's predecessor, the Royal Academy of Music.
The most spectacular measure concerns the 154 dancers of the Opera ballet, who can retire at 40 -- and must do so by 42 -- after a mimimum 10 years in service. The 102 members of the Opera choir can retire aged 50.
The pension system is designed to reflect the physical strains of Opera work, but also allow a healthy turnover of artists.
Currently the state bails out the Paris Opera pension fund to the tune of 10 million euros (14.3 million dollars) each year because contributions from workers fall short of payments.
Overall, French special pensions funds cost taxpayers five billion euros a year.
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