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UBCP awaits outcome of Toronto IPA talks
Vancouver: Efforts to strike a new B.C. Master Production Agreement between the Union of British Columbia Performers and U.S. and Canadian producers will be influenced by the outcome of Toronto negotiations between ACTRA and the CFTPA and Quebec-based APFTQ. Those talks were deadlocked as of early November, with conciliators being brought in.
Earlier this summer in Vancouver, negotiations between UBCP – the B.C. branch of ACTRA – and producers represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers on the U.S. side and the CFTPA, reached an impasse, with both sides calling for a mediator to help resolve major issues before returning to the table.
In September, veteran arbitrator Vince Ready stepped in and suggested that the existing agreement, which expired on March 31, 2006, be extended to March 31, 2007, a recommendation that has been put into effect.
In the interim, both sides are expected to work separately with Ready to hammer out issues surrounding provisions for minors, casting procedures, producer bond/payment obligations, and the major sticking point – AMPTP’s demand for performer discounts on low-budget projects.
Neither UBCP nor the producer reps would comment for this story.
In a Sept. 29 update to its members, the UBCP wrote that the extension of the current MPA would allow the union to wait for the completion of the Independent Production Agreement between ACTRA and producers throughout the rest of the country. Knowing the details of the IPA would guide UBCP in its goal to ‘achieve parity for minimum terms and conditions with all performers across the country.’
Meanwhile, prior to the negotiations in Toronto, Marit Stiles, ACTRA director of research, posted a message on the organization’s website saying ‘UBCP’s fight will soon be ours, as we likely face the same… demands from producers at the bargaining table.’
In the national IPA talks, producers want to apply performers’ discounts on low-budget productions to include all genres – not only drama – while ACTRA wants its members to be paid closer to what U.S. SAG performers get paid for working in Canada. The sides have been so far apart that ACTRA walked out on talks on Oct. 23 and conciliators have been brought in – Quebec’s Richard Champagne and Ontario’s Reg Pearson.
How these matters eventually get settled will go far in establishing what UBCP brings to the table ahead of the March 2007 MPA deadline.
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