TORONTO – For two groups that said earlier this month they don’t want to negotiate through the media, they sure are putting out a lot of press releases.
Friday’s missive from Canadian actors’ union ACTRA says they believe that the producers’ association wants to see them out on strike.
“Based on their huge demands for concessions, their delay in coming to bargaining, their attempts to block the appointment of a conciliator and their filing of inaccurate and time wasting applications with the Labour Board it would appear they really are not interested in getting an agreement with us before the contract expires,” said ACTRA chief negotiator Stephen Waddell.
The current deal expires on December 31st.
The CFTPA/APFTQ has demanded that Canadian performers take pay cuts of up to 25% on virtually 80% of Canadian productions. They have also put forward demands that would eliminate most residual payments to performers for future broadcasts of their work and for work on the Internet.
ACTRA says it requested that talks start last March but the CFTPA/APFTQ refused to provide any dates until October and provided only eight potential dates before the end of the agreement. “Their behavior is bizarre,” added Waddell. “We have offered to meet with them with a conciliator to see if we could find some common ground. Yet, they have filed a complaint with the Labour Board that we are refusing to meet.”
The CFTPA response was then to "set the record straight," said its release. "Once again the CFTPA and the APFTQ are urging ACTRA to put and end to the rhetoric and misinformation and return to the bargaining table in order to continue discussions," says the producers’ release.
"(T)he disingenuous statements from ACTRA – who are still insisting that the producers remove all of their proposals as a precondition to bargaining – mean that we can’t take ACTRA’s statement that it wants ‘stability in the industry’ very seriously."
The CFTPA and APFTQ said it proposed ACTRA use the same national mediator as has been used in the past, once the actors union made it clear they wanted conciliation. According to the producers, ACTRA rejected this proposal and instead advised the CFTPA that it intends to file for conciliation in every province in Canada. "If ACTRA is serious about bargaining, it would agree to the single national mediator instead of taking this step toward attempting to shut down the industry with a strike," says the CFTPA release
“ACRTA says it has offered a safe harbour agreement or continuation letter, but that’s simply not true.” said John Barrack, chief negotiator for the CFTPA. “What ACTRA is proposing is the implementation of its proposals without negotiation in exchange for labour peace, which is further evidence of their failure to bargain in good faith.”
So, the CFTPA has filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board alleging that ACTRA has failed to bargain in good faith. "The CFTPA and APFTQ are urging labour peace before any more projects are lost as a result of this unnecessary dispute," says its release.
ACTRA insists it has offered the CFTPA/APFTQ a letter of continuation "which would allow producers currently involved in projects to continue past the expiry date of the agreement," says the union. The CFTPA/APFTQ has told its members to refuse to sign it.
“Every move the CFTPA makes seems designed to create conflict and instability. Their behavior is inexplicable and incoherent. One can only assume that they want to force a strike,” added Waddell.
