Twelve singers who were dismissed from or stopped working with the Cape Town Opera (CTO) last month because of a feud over contracts filed a statement of opposition with the Labour Court on Wednesday in response to the company's initial claim against them.
According to GroundUp, upon their return in July from performing at the Festival Aix-en-Provence in France they were found by the opera to have violated the terms of their contract. The opera initially filed a claim with the Labour Court on 17 August on the basis that the singers, by accepting pay from the French festival, "breached the terms and conditions of their employment contracts and caused it damages, loss and harm in quantifiable amounts". In the statement of opposition, however, the singers ask the court to "consider the gross misrepresentation by [CTO], placing twelve young lives, careers, dreams and ambitions at great and real risk in a far off country". The matter will be settled in the Labour Court once a date for the hearing is set.
- Read this report by David Doochin of GroundUp in full at News24
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