While there was a little progress between ACTRA and the CFTPA in regards to compensation for new media, there is still no deal between the two unions after two days of mediated talks that ended on Thursday.
Producer representatives proposed a 5% buyout fee for digital media rights for ACTRA members’ work over five years, which would be on top of a 6% increase in wages over three years. While the CFTPA’s negotiator considered this generous, ACTRA’s negotiator disagreed, proposing the 5% digital buyout should come on top of a 10% increase in wages over three years.
ACTRA’s current minimum rate, or scale, for an ACTRA actor in a leading role, is $565 CAD for an eight-hour day. For digital media use over five years, it would cost $28.25 total.
ACTRA also says the US studio reps who were at the talks were taking “a hard line on digital media compensation”, and that if it were just Canadian reps there, there probably would’ve been a deal.
The court-ordered arbitration is scheduled to take place on February 19. Mediator Marilyn Nairn will consider the legality of the current strike and ACTRA’s use of continuation letters.
Playback Daily
The Canadian government is getting involved in the ACTRA strike.
Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn is sending the actors’ union and the CFTPA back to the bargaining table this coming Wednesday and Thursday. Director General of the Federal Mediation and Concilliation Services, Elizabeth MacPherson, will mediate. Members of Quebec’s producers’ union will be on hand, as will producers from the States, who are seeking leverage with ACTRA members, as new media residuals will also be brought up when they negotiate with the Screen Actors Guild later this year.
Meanwhile, in British Columbia, US producers came away empty-handed after talks with the the Union of British Columbia Performers–who are waiting to see what happens with ACTRA’s strike before proceeding further.
Playback Daily
ACTRA announced today that they are going to appeal the decision handed down in Ontario court on Tuesday, stating that they and the CFTPA have to go into arbitration. Their reasoning is that labour laws apply to the Independent Production Agreement (IPA), and no arbitrator is necessary. Plus, an arbitrator would not help the two unions resolve the issues that were the big catalyst for the strike in the first place: compensation for internet rights, and wages.
The CFTPA has expressed outrage. In a press release dated Wednesday (1/31), CFTPA’s CEO and President Guy Mason said…
“This appeal directly contradicts previous statements made by ACTRA that it wants a deal and is willing to get back to the bargaining table,†said Guy Mayson, President and CEO, CFTPA. “As I’ve said countless times before, I would urge ACTRA to resume bargaining and resolve the few remaining issues as soon as possible for the benefit of the entire industry.â€
“If ACTRA really believes the strike is lawful then why would they be afraid of letting an arbitrator answer the question,†added Barrack.
In a press release that went out today, ACTRA negotiator Stephen Waddell said…
“But we respectfully disagree with the court about whether or not the producers’ association is correct about where further litigation needs to take place. The producers maintain that certain process issues should be before an arbitrator, while we maintain that labour boards should deal with such issues. The arbitrator will not be dealing with the substance of negotiations.
“This highlights the fact that litigation is not going to settle this contract. Court rulings lead to additional court proceedings. The CFTPA launched this litigation as an alternative to negotiating. It’s time for them to get back to the table and to bargain reasonably towards a settlement,” he said.
CBC Arts
CFTPA press release
ACTRA press release
An Ontario judge ruled that ACTRA’s strike against the CFTPA is, in fact, legal. However, the two sides were also ordered to go into arbitration. The one thing that was left unclear in the ruling was the legality of the continuation letters ACTRA was using that many producers have signed to allow various productions to continue in lieu of the strike.
Arbitration may begin within the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, ACTRA members in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland may find themselves on strike in their respective provinces in mid-February.
Also, Playback Daily reports that the BC Performers Union is now negotiating with members of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, which represents indie film producers as well as ones out of Hollywood. Members of both ACTRA and the CFTPA will be in BC to oversee what’s going on.
CBC Arts
Playback Daily
ACTRA and the CFTPA went to court today (Tuesday), after talks failed to produce results the day before. Details are soon-coming.
UPDATE (1/24): A decision on the legality of the ACTRA strike will be handed down early next week.
UPDATE (1/27): Playback Daily reported on Friday (1/26) that, in court, a lawyer for the CFTPA argued that ACTRA “was acting in bad faith” as early as October 24, 2006–a day after collective bargaining began for the renegotiation of ACTRA’s contracts–when they filed “for conciliation in Ontario under the Labour Relations Act, while starting to sign individual deals with producers.” The lawyer argued that this went against IPA protocol.
Conversely, ACTRA’s lawyers contend that they did follow protocol according to provincial labour laws, and…
“It is ACTRA’s position - a position that it has consistently taken before the Ontario Labour Relations Board - that the IPA is a collective agreement and that ACTRA’s members are employees who are subject to the Ontario Labour Relations Act,” argued ACTRA lawyer Paul Cavalluzzo of Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton LLP.
Also, according to ACTRA, the continuation letters that over 120 production crews have signed are legal, adding that when the IPA was up for bargaining in 1995, it was producers that time that asked ACTRA members to sign similar letters. In 2001, ACTRA had filed with Ontario court about re-establishing continuation letters at the insistence of the producers’ unions in Canada, as well as some producers Stateside, who were accusing ACTRA of “fostering industry instability and driving production out of Canada.”
Playback Daily (1/24)
CBC Arts
Globe and Mail/Canadian Press
Playback Daily (1/26)
