Vancouver: The Union of B.C. Performers ratified its first master collective agreement with Hollywood studios Feb. 6.

With the deal, b.c. is entering at least one full year of film labor peace, with all the major unions under streamlined, long-term deals for the first time.

Of eligible members, 95% of actors voted in favor of the new agreement, a stark contrast to the same proportion voting to dump a master agreement negotiated last year. After labor disruption last summer, including the Warner Bros. series Police Academy, ubcp and studios entered into informal talks last fall to eventually break the impasse.

‘This is an historic achievement for our union,’ says ubcp president Peter Partridge, ‘an important development for the b.c. film industry. This agreement means labor stability and absolute certainty for producers wishing to produce film and television productions in b.c.’

According to the union, the newly ratified agreement is the first time major Hollywood studios have collectively agreed to be bound by an agreement with an actors union outside of the u.s.

The union is also claiming breakthroughs in the areas of use fees, minimum calls, hourly rates for performers on weekly contracts and improved working conditions.

The ubcp deal expires March 31, 1999, the same date as the b.c. branch of the Directors Guild of Canada concludes the very first multiyear labor deal in b.c.

Crawford Hawkins, chair of the executive committee of the b.c. division of the dgc, says: ‘For once producers can project exact conditions and we will be able to develop long-term relationships.’

The local dgc chapter has had a positive experience with its three-year deal and expects smooth renewal negotiations.

The B.C. Council of Film Unions – including IATSE Local 891, IATSE Local 669 and Teamsters Local 155 – ratified a three-year master collective agreement last year.