Vancouver: Writers of Canadian one-hour dramas with per-episode budgets of $1 million will get a raise of almost $2,600 starting Nov. 1 if members of the Writers Guild of Canada approve a new contract.

Also, writers of animation production in Canada will, for the first time, see some protections provided by the scribe union.

The changes are part of a proposed new Independent Production Agreement between the wgc, the cftpa and apftq. While one-hour drama writers will see their per-script rate rise from $25,750 to $28,325, writers in all English-language genres will see their rates jump a similar 10% for produced scripts.

Specific contract details, which were subject to 18 months of negotiations, are being kept quiet until the union can convene member meetings prior to the ratification package mail-out on Oct. 12.

The Toronto-based union is recommending that its 1,500 members approve the agreement, says Jim McKee, director of policy and research at the wgc. The ratification vote will be final Nov. 1 when the new contract is to come into effect. It is set to expire Dec. 31, 2002.

Under the terms of the new agreement, animation producers will now pay a rate equal to 10% of their writers’ fees into a wgc insurance and retirement benefits plan.

And while there are no minimum rates for writers of animated scripts, wgc members who write for animation will have the standard guild protections, such as credit arbitration.

(A quirk in the contract says that every English-language writer in Quebec, union and non-union, falls under the new ipa, but only animation producers who use existing wgc members in the rest of Canada have to pay the benefits. McKee says the guild doesn’t consider the contract as discriminating against union writers outside of Quebec because most working writers are already members. He adds that non-union writers can join the guild on the strength of their first writing contract.)

Other contract changes include increased script fees for work in development and a new incentive plan for low-budget features, which the wgc says will allow more writers and producers to work under the ipa.

‘The cftpa would like to thank and congratulate the Writers Guild on reaching what we consider to be a fair deal for everyone,’ says John Barrack, cftpa national vp of industrial relations and counsel.

‘What appear as substantial increases must be considered against the background that there have been no increases in writers’ salaries for more than five years.’

The current ipa was drafted four years ago and was extended beyond its original term. *

-www.writersguildofcanada.com