ACTRA on strike, but most actors still working

Last Updated: Monday, January 8, 2007 | 9:47 AM ET

CBC Arts

Film, television and radio performers were in a position to strike in three provinces early Monday, but there was not a picket line to be found across the country.

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, which represents 21,000 members of the film, television and radio industry, announced a strike after talks with the producers' association broke down early Monday.

But ACTRA said it has signed continuation agreements with every producer with a film or TV project underway in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to avoid a work stoppage.

Picket signs lie piled up in ACTRA's Toronto office on Monday. Despite a performers strike, there will be no picket lines in the city because all productions have signed continuance letters.
(Geoff Ellwand/CBC)

The continuation agreements give ACTRA members the same terms they were demanding at the bargaining table, Karl Pruner, president of ACTRA's Toronto branch, said at a news conference Monday.

"All the producers have broken from their association and signed these agreements," he said.

"What we've signed for is the same pay increase we were asking for at the table. To me, that's a win."

The only exception may be animated movie and TV production, as some producers of animated films have been stockpiling work in anticipation of a strike.

ACTRA's strategy is to divide producers from their association and to use the continuation letters to give performers the terms they want, Pruner told CBC.ca Arts Online.

Those terms include a five per cent wage increase and a two per cent increase in insurance and retirement benefits.

The continuation letters were individually negotiated with each producer and cover productions such as The Englishman's Boy, Deal or No Deal and 'Til Death Do Us Part. 

The Canadian Film and Television Production Association says the strike is illegal and it does not recognize the continuation letters.

The producers plan to take ACTRA to court within the next two weeks to ask that the letters be declared invalid, John Barrack, chief negotiator for the CFTPA told CBC Television. 

ACTRA walked away from a comprehensive settlement package on Monday morning, the CFTPA said.

"It's unfortunate it ended up as it did," Barrack said. "I think there is a lot of fear and misunderstanding over new media issues."

ACTRA says the talks broke down on the issue of payment for electronic rights.

"We don't work for free. We don't work in TV for free, we don't work on film for free and we're certainly not going to work on the internet for free and that's what we've been asked to do and it's not going to happen," said Eric Peterson, a veteran Canadian actor who spoke at the news conference.

Eric Peterson, speaking at an ACTRA press conference, says he is expected to work for scale despite 40 years of experience as an actor.
(CBC)

The issue of electronic rights is a sore point among performers, who get almost nothing for DVDs, which earn millions for the producers.

U.S. producers were closely watching the Canadian talks because they have negotiations coming up with the Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors' Guild, ACTRA said.

"The producers didn't want any bad precedent here that is going to mess up their talks in the U.S.," Pruner said.

Barrack said ACTRA miscalculated by leaving the issue of electronic rights until the end of bargaining, hoping to force a settlement. Producers wanted time to study the issue further, he said.

But ACTRA said the CFPTA's offer was unreasonable. 

Canadian actors already work at a significant discount from their U.S. counterparts, Peterson said, because they are often expected to work for scale, the lowest pay offered in the industry.

"We're going to auditions and we are told they are only offering scale," he said. "I'm not going to be paid for the 40 years of experience I have as a Canadian actor."

ACTRA will be in a strike position in Quebec on Wednesday and bargaining units in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Alberta are in conciliation, according to ACTRA negotiator Stephen Waddell.

Nearly all the producers working in these provinces have signed a continuation letter, he said.

There are still some legal hoops to jump through before a work stoppage can start in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and B.C. performers are represented by a different union that has agreed its members will not take work in other provinces, he said.

New productions can come into Canada if they sign continuation agreements with ACTRA's terms, he said.

No new talks are scheduled

With files from the Associated Press