Operating in what sometimes seems like the shadow of the Borg, Canada’s film and television industry must pull together to maintain its independence. This manifests itself in the finessing of the flexible labor agreement, wily lobbying and professional development strategies. This report looks at the evolution of the professional organizations which fight to keep Canada’s competitive production edge honed, and their impact on the industry

Technical unions across the country – the Association of Canadian Film Craftspeople and nabet – are calling the B.C. Council of Film Unions an unholy alliance, as the joint council helps itself to increasing amounts of film work.

The Council, led by the 1,650-member IATSE Local 891, was granted an exclusive agreement a year ago by b.c.’s Labour Relations Board to do the technical work on high-end productions. That means that features with below-the-line labor costs exceeding $4 million and u.s. series and mows now go directly to Local 891, IA Local 669 (cameras) and Teamsters 155 as members of the joint council.

It was a landmark decision that eliminated a lot of inter-union jurisdictional bickering with a single bureaucratic missive. It also relegated the struggling local chapter of the acfc (with 320 members) and NABET 700 (a national charter of freelance technical workers with 900 members in Ontario and about 100 members in b.c.) to the bottom of the market.

Understandably, it’s not the place they want to be and nabet, at the very least, is preparing a challenge to try and make sure it’s not where they stay.

A legal appeal to overturn the lrb decision is imminent, says Linda Gardon, Toronto-based business representative for NABET 700. This is an escalation of a process that began with the lrb denying an appeal to overturn Section 41 two months ago.

‘It’s revolting that a Canadian association can be ghettoized like this and not represent the higher-end worker,’ she says. ‘It’s one thing to have the market forces put you at the bottom end of the market. It’s quite another to be legislated there.’

Gardon disagrees with the view that the Council’s master agreement has rationalized the labor climate in b.c. and boosted the volume of production. She contends that IA Local 891 and its partners ‘misrepresented the facts’ and made the b.c. labor scene sound more chaotic than it was to secure exclusive jurisdiction. And she fears the domino effect, citing an iatse campaign for a similar exclusive arrangement in Alberta.

The appeal, Gardon adds, is being bankrolled by its parent union cep, which absorbed nabet two years ago.

The IATSE freight train

Whether or not nabet is on strong moral or legal ground in its appeal, the effort comes a year after the master agreement was implemented and in a jurisdiction that isn’t a nabet hotbed, as Gardon admits. The appeal’s launch is timed to complicate the January renegotiation of the Council’s contract, which is expected to be extended to three years after some tweaking.

iatse’s long-term dominance in the Vancouver market is not disputed, and was even enshrined in policy when the lrb handed down its decision last year. Volumes and employment in the film industry are up, so income taxes are up at a time when it’s too early to assess whether the Council monopoly is helping or hindering. Consequently, Gardon and NABET 700 will have a steep uphill climb to convince the lrb, the industry and, perhaps, even the courts that the joint council is discriminatory.

What’s evident, however, is the fear in the eyes of nabet and acfc. They see the iatse freight train a-comin’ and they dearly want to avoid being the proverbial damsel tied to the tracks.

In the last half-dozen years, iatse has gained market domination in Toronto, Vancouver and other markets. The union’s grip on the technical jobs required for film production is tightening around the necks of acfc and nabet (which at least has the fall-back position to represent broadcast technicians).

If any one factor has stimulated the evolution of the technical unions in Canada, it has been the crushing business plan of iatse.

Take, for example, the limping acfc which has 400 members in Toronto, 320 members in Vancouver and a Manitoba chapter that is, as acfc president John Subotich says vaguely, in transition. Only now, he says, is the rumor of the acfc’s demise starting to fade.

‘We seem to have lost our uniqueness,’ says Subotich, in explaining the fall of the union from its market leading position in the 1980s to a faltering third. ‘Among members, there was unrest and dissatisfaction with the status quo. And there was a view of us in recent years of being rigid and unwilling to accommodate.’

A restructuring began about two years ago with the hiring of a new business agent, Ray Stringer, in October 1995 and a full-time president, Subotich, in March.

Subotich’s challenge is selling the quality of his technicians, increasing membership and regaining the confidence of the market. He predicts 1997 will be a turnaround year with more series like Traders, Psi Factor and the much ballyhooed Wind at My Back creating jobs for members. ‘Size is not as important as maximizing employment,’ says Subotich.

And there are shortages, he explains. ‘Everyone in Toronto is working and there is a shortage of skilled craftspeople,’ says Subotich, citing examples among riggers and boom operators.

Member satisfaction, he adds candidly, is still not where it should be at acfc. ‘We still need to do work in that area,’ Subotich explains. ‘It’s an ongoing reality for any organization, union, guild or association.’ Recent changes at the acfc have been dictated by the majority will of the membership, he maintains.

‘Bring us your budgets and we’ll put a deal together,’ says Subotich, as a way of summing up the new flexible nature of the acfc. ‘We are definitely open for business.’

While Subotich applauds the acfc’s ability to erase rumors of its demise, he is in informal talks with NABET 700 to merge the two smaller unions to better battle iatse. (Actually, Gardon describes it more in terms of nabet absorbing acfc.)

The initiative, which has some time before it goes to a members’ vote, dates back 18 months to when ACFC West in Vancouver and nabet first sat down to talk. Fulfilled, the initiative sets up the interesting split in Canada where acfc/nabet would be doing most of the Canadian film and television work, while iatse does most of the u.s work.

‘Yes there has been limited dialogue [about merging],’ says Subotich. ‘The potential is there, but we’ve taken no real steps. We’ve had lunch and said it seems like a good idea. We’d stop beating each other up.’

Gardon implies that there is not enough business to keep three unions going. The challenge of remaining competitive not just in Canada, but throughout the world, is made tougher. The hurdle to jump to keep her members employed in shows such as Due South and La Femme Nikita gets higher. And the constant erosion on producers’ budgets and broadcasters’ licence fees means rates have remained flat for at least five years, despite members’ calls for a raise.

It means a focus on training and apprenticeship programs and it means meeting struggling Canadian producers on their cash-strapped terms. ‘We have to keep producers at home,’ says Gardon. ‘We have to offer Canadian producers the deals they need to work in Canada.’

On the basics of keeping memberships active and trained and Canadian producers dealing, IATSE Local 891 president Don Ramsden has no arguments with Gardon or Subotich. But he believes the disputed joint council agreement – which he calls a unique labor relations experiment – has meant he’s been able to take a hiatus from negotiating to focus on membership needs and bolstering the film community.

‘We’ve streamlined to make it easier for everybody,’ says Ramsden. ‘This agreement will change the complexion of collective bargaining for a decade,’ he adds with a positive spin.

iatse in Vancouver has set up 22 apprenticeship programs (implementing, so far, only two for set dressers and grips). Ramsden says he now has the time to consult with Canadian producers and design a program to designate micro-budget films that do not have a labor budget as ‘trainee’ projects.

And, in the face of the huge influx of American shows like Millennium and Free Willy iii, Ramsden is looking at other undefined ways to increase the Canadian element in Vancouver production.

He’s says he has been able to consult on new studio space being proposed to meet the critical capacity issues in Vancouver and he’s worked to streamline the permitting processes at, for example, City Hall.

‘We’ve been able to pay attention to occupational health and safety and internal infrastructure issues,’ says Ramsden, clearly enjoying his expanded diplomatic role as an elected labor leader.

And in terms of member satisfaction, he points to the 3,500 members and permittees who ‘are working and paying their mortgages.’

Is he concerned about nabet’s legal challenge? ‘nabet has the right to challenge. But a collective agreement exists. It doesn’t matter what the Supreme Court says,’ contends Ramsden. ‘Even if the courts say the lrb made a mistake, at the end of the day, the parties concluded an agreement.’