ACTRA announces new strike date as bargaining resumes
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 3, 2007 | 11:35 AM ET
CBC Arts
The union representing Canadian film and TV actors has announced a new strike deadline of 12.01 a.m. Monday, Jan. 8.
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) returned to the bargaining table with North American producers on Wednesday in a last-ditch attempt to avert a strike.
The union's agreement with the Canadian Film and Television Production Association expired on Dec. 31 and the original strike deadline of this past Monday was postponed after new talks were scheduled.
The union has agreed to two more days of talks and notified producers of the new strike deadline as bargaining resumed on Wednesday.
"ACTRA wants to avoid a strike. We're going to try hard this week to negotiate a new agreement," ACTRA executive director Stephen Waddell said in a statement.
"But the producers' associations must not underestimate our determination to ensure that it is a fair agreement."
ACTRA's 21,000 members voted 97.6 per cent in favour of a strike in December after producers asked for a wage rollback.
Compensation for digital rights, wages and working conditions are the main sticking points in bargaining.
"Canadian performers will not see their wages eroded and will not be giving away their work on the internet for free," Waddell said.
About 13,000 of ACTRA's members are based in Toronto, but the union has received assurances that the Union of B.C. Performers, a separate union that represents B.C. workers, and the International Federation of Actors would support its strike efforts.
