Universal Worker

How many different activities can you do at work? What is it like to run from the cash register to the warehouse, from counting money to carrying pallets and from changing the prices on the shelf to cleaning the floor in the store? How do you handle the pressure from the manager and insults from customers? What do you do when, even though you just received a pay raise, you don't even have the money to pay all the debts? How do you react when the company sabotages the union? How can you protect your rights and negotiate better working conditions? Universal Worker depicts the experiences, personal histories and working relationships of four workers from ”Mon Ami”, a fictional supermarket in Bucharest. In Romania, over 800 thousand people are employed in retail, the field with the largest number of workers in the country. Of these, 83,000 work in multinational companies. Developed in partnership with the Federation of Retail Unions and based on extensive research (over 30 interviews and six workshops with workers and union leaders from five multinational retailers), the show talks, in a fictional setting, about the struggles, pressures and challenges facing employees and trade unions in the local context.

Performance crew – Cast: Alice Monica Marinescu, Katia Pascariu, Alexandru Potocean, Andrei Șerban; scenography: Irina Gâdiuță; music and lyrics: Maria Sgârcitu; choreography: Carmen Coțofană; graphic design: Cătălin Rulea; direction and script: David Schwartz; research: Veronica Lazăr, Alice Monica Marinescu, Rodica Novac, Katia Pascariu, Alexandru Potocean, David Schwartz, Andrei Șerban, Andra Tarara.

Partners – Federation of Retail Unions, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, National Trade Union Confederation Cartel Alfa, Conect Association, Replika Educational Theater Center

Film crew – Director of photography: Dragoș Hanciu; camera: Paul Chirilă, Dragoş Hanciu, Jaro Minne, Alexandru Radu; sound: Flora Pop; sound mixing: Mara Mărăcinescu; production, direction, editing and color grading: Alexandru Radu.