Vancouver: Veteran mediator Vince Ready has been named by the B.C. government’s Ministry of Labour to hammer out the final and outstanding details on the Tysoe Report, first presented a year ago. Ready’s industrial inquiry, which was announced Feb. 7, will present its findings April 1.

In the Tysoe Report, commissioned by B.C. Labour Minister Graham Bruce, Justice David Tysoe outlined five labor relations challenges that were, according to his findings, undermining the competitiveness of the West Coast film and television production sector. The report was specifically critical of IATSE Local 891 and Teamsters Local 155 for the large backlog of grievances and seniority rules that limited hiring.

Three of Tysoe’s recommendations – including a commitment to deal with grievances through the BC Council of Film Unions; the recognition that master collective agreement language takes priority over union policies; and the promise to negotiate a lower-budget contract – have been implemented. But contentious seniority issues such as the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy remain unresolved. The seniority issues, if approved, allow producers to sidestep allegedly problematic union members high on the seniority list.

‘The film industry has worked hard to implement those recommendations, which were aimed at keeping the industry healthy and competitive,’ says Bruce. ‘The parties have been able to work out on their own how they will implement most of those recommendations, and they have agreed to work with Mr. Ready to deal with the outstanding issues around seniority dispatch.’

According to the ministry, Ready is working with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the CFTPA and the BC Council of Film Unions in dealing with the unresolved issues – which the unions say should be negotiated in the next collective agreement due a year from now.

Don Ramsden, president of IATSE Local 891 in Vancouver, says he’s willing to participate in the commission, but questions whether the government can compel the unions to do anything without collective bargaining.

‘[Ready] has no more or less power or authority than Tysoe,’ says Ramsden. ‘He’ll make recommendations and the minister will make the decisions. I have lots of faith in Vince to ferret out the facts and issues. I don’t think Tysoe was flawed necessarily, but the truth of the matter is that it didn’t get into the nitty-gritty industrial aspects of seniority. [Seniority] is there for a number of reasons, [to protect against] sexism, ageism, cronyism…’

Ramsden says preliminary meetings on the next contract could happen as early as November.