Vancouver: The executive board of the Union of B.C. Performers-actra has voted to endorse a new master collective agreement with the amptp.

Union president Peter Partridge says the contract – which at press time was going through minor revisions – might be distributed to the voting members and ratified before month end.

An agreement, if approved, will be a first master agreement for the actors and will take the performers union off the hit lists of other film industry insiders who blame the actors for a loss of features in 1997.

In early 1997, b.c. actors voted 96% to dump the previous drafting of a collective agreement with producers because of a loss of benefits and use fees. That action, last summer, precipitated threatened strike action against the feature Wrongfully Accused and cable series Police Academy which prompted the provincial government and B.C. Labour Relations Board to intervene in favor of producers.

The instability of the actors’ situation was seen by many as an obstacle to growth in b.c. and the spark for loyal u.s. producers to start looking at other jurisdictions, allegations that ubcp representatives have steadfastly refuted.

The new deal, however, is much improved, reports Partridge. Details of the new agreement were not official at press time, but Partridge says producers agreed to more terms demanded by the performers and he claims the new agreement is better than the existing Independent Production Agreement governing actors in other parts of Canada.

For example, retire benefits are greater in the new ubcp agreement (12% versus 9%), overtime kicks in earlier, there is a lower line count for ‘actors’ to be upgraded ‘principals’ and the b.c. union was able to negotiate minimum call times for wardrobe and rehearsals.

Regarding actors’ residual buyouts, feature producers will pay 130% for a four-year term, mows will pay 105% for a five-year term and cable productions will pay 75% over a five-year term.

Partridge says the ubcp deal, if ratified, will expire March 31, 1998, three months after the official expiry date of the ipa. At that point, he says, all Canadian jurisdictions could be under one agreement if it makes for a better deal for b.c. performers.

Partridge adds that preliminary meetings with producer Richard Davis, a b.c. representative on the cftpa, may result in Canadian producers adopting the contract after ratification.