Terms for a new contract between Canada’s actors and producers have been made public.

ACTRA, the CFTPA and the APFTQ reached terms in the spring to renew the Independent Production Agreement for another three years, and it is now only subject to ratification amongst the various organizations’ memberships. Negotiations were completed eight months before the expiry date of the current agreement.

The deal will see ACTRA member wage rates increase 1% for the first year of the agreement, 1.5% for year two, and 2% for the third. Extras will see an hourly wage increase of 9% over the course of the term, and members will receive a 1% increase in insurance (making it 5%) from producers. The parties have also agreed to cap on the producer’s maximum retirement contributions at a 32% increase over the term.

The negotiations lasted from March 24 to April 4, and reps from all three organizations say they went in fully intent on getting through it quickly to show the domestic and international industries that Canada has a very stable labor relations environment that hasn’t fallen apart with the tough times.

‘We started well in advance because we want to send a positive signal to the industry,’ says ACTRA national executive director Steven Waddell. ‘We also agreed to limit the number of proposals put on the table in order to help us get through the process and conclude with an agreement quickly.’

‘We all agreed, given the state of the economy and everything that’s going on, that it was extremely important to send a message to the world,’ says John Barrack, CFTPA national VP, industrial relations and council. ‘We’re open for business. This wasn’t the time for us to fight about things we might fight about another day.’

Barrack says the CFTPA is pleased because in addition to having kept ACTRA wage rate increases low, the new deal creates incentives for new series work. APFTQ deputy executive director Mylene Alder agrees.

‘For the producers, stability is an intangible benefit,’ she says. ‘Producers know there is going to be a collective agreement enforced for the next three years, so if you want to plan a series you won’t have any problems.’

ACTRA is currently in the midst of ratifying the new agreement, working toward the return date of Aug. 27. It is also in the vote period for a similar agreement with the CBC that will see general increases in base rates of 1.5% for 2003 and 2.5% for 2004. The agreement also comes with a 1% contribution by the CBC to insurance and, if ratified, the deal would apply from July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2005. The results of the votes are due in early September.

The CFTPA has already accepted the terms outlined in the IPA agreement, and the APFTQ will hold its vote in the fall.

-www.actra.ca

-www.cftpa.ca

-www.audiovisuel.com