THE NETHERLANDS – For years now there is a silent talk behind the scenes on how Eurovision volunteers are working without any true compensation. The only gains for them is to experience the Eurovision sentiment and some maybe freebies regarding goodies and maybe food. The sum of the whole story is that volunteers are actually providing full-time job covering their personal costs from their own pocket.
In The Netherlands, there is now a true (finally) discussion whether the Eurovision 2020 volunteers must be compensated or not. NPO has defended their call for volunteers, stating that the position gives a lot back to the applicants. On top of that, they announced that there is a lot of interest in the position and over 200 people have applied since the opening of the vacancy. A spokesperson from NPO told AD:
“It’s very common for a big event like the Eurovision Song Contest to use volunteers. 80,000 volunteers will be used at the Tokyo Olympics. It is a unique experience that fans stand in line for.”
Critics don’t think it’s fair that a full-time position doesn’t merit any pay. Aart van Zevenbergen, the leader of the local Socialist Party, told Dagblad010:
“The Rotterdam Socialist Party faction thinks it is strange that there are such high requirements for a volunteering position and that the volunteer is not getting any compensation or salary. Because of that, we would like to debate with the city council and the alderman on the employability of volunteers at the Eurovision Song Contest.”
