Creative marketing and communications agency Cossette has signed an agreement with ACTRA, the union representing actors in Canada, amid an ongoing labour dispute in Canada’s commercial production sector.

Signed on Thursday, the letter of continuance will allow Toronto-based Cossette to work with ACTRA talent through the remainder of 2023. Further details on terms of the letter were not disclosed.

Cossette said in a statement that it “looks forward to working alongside other agencies to negotiate a fair and meaningful resolution for the industry as a whole.” The agency declined to comment further on the agreement, beyond what was in a joint press release issued on Friday. A spokesperson for ACTRA was not available for comment.

In June 2022, Cossette signed an agreement with ACTRA covering the Quebec market, in accordance with local laws and regulations, which has now been expanded nationally. The statement did not clarify whether that agreement was the same as the one signed by the A2C, which represents creative agencies in Quebec, with ACTRA that same month.

Since April 2022, ACTRA has alleged that the Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA) and its members have been engaged in a lockout of its 28,000 members by not signing on to a renewed National Commercial Agreement (NCA), which dictates how ad agencies are to engage unionized actors for commercial shoots.

At issue is an “opt-out clause” that would allow signatories to engage ACTRA talent under the NCA if and when they pleased. ACTRA says this is a clear reduction in the scope of its collective bargaining rights, while the ICA has insisted this is necessary in order to “level the playing field” between its members and newer agencies that have been able to engage ACTRA talent using third-party signatories.

While ACTRA has directed labour actions at all of the agencies it says are engaged in a lockout of its members, Cossette has perhaps been the most frequent target. In addition to protests outside of its offices, three Cossette clients were targeted in an ACTRA boycott of “union-busting brands” launched last month.

ACTRA also started a petition campaign calling on the federal government to stop working with Cossette Media in light of the ongoing labour dispute (Cossette, the creative agency, is a separate entity from Cossette Media, the government’s media buying AOR. The federal government does work with Cossette on creative in Quebec, where the agency worked with ACTRA talent under its agreement in that province).

Cossette’s statement also said it is “keenly watching” the Ontario Labour Relations Board hearings intended to resolve ACTRA’s complaint that the Institute of Canadian Agencies acted in bad faith by insisting on an “opt-out clause” during negotiations. The final hearing in front of the OLRB is scheduled for April 25.

This story originally appeared in strategy

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