By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – A labour union representing creative workers has been approved last week by Quebec’s labour tribunal to represent English-language workers in the province who participate in productions with intimate scenes.
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema and Radio Artists (ACTRA), which represents 28,000 professionals in the visual arts, cinema, recording and literature, filed the application when there was no union representing the intimacy coordinators. These coordinators are members of a film or television crew who ensure the well-being of actors who participate in sex or other intimate scenes.
The labor tribunal found that ACTRA represents the greatest number of artists in this particular area. No one opposed the application.
“Several elements indicate that ACTRA meets the criterion of representativeness,” the decision read. “Indeed, it counts among its active members intimacy coordinators having worked on more than a dozen productions over the last two years, in the context where this function is relatively new and those who occupy it are not many.
“Furthermore, the uncontested evidence reveals that no other artists’ association represents intimacy coordinators in the field of English-language film in Quebec,” the decision added.
