ACTRA’s boycott of ‘union-busting brands’ expands

Backed by the International Federation of Actors, the union adds Volkswagen, Johnson & Johnson and several others to its list.

A CTRA’s boycott of brands it accuses of union-busting is escalating across borders as the International Federation of Actors (FIA) has joined the effort.

FIA, which has affiliates in 70 countries, has announced its intention to stand in solidarity with ACTRA in an ongoing lockout by advertising agencies represented by the Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA).

The lockout, which has been ongoing for more than 520 days, reached another impasse two weeks ago when mediation again broke down, with the mediator stating that the parties remained too far apart for productive discussions.

Gabrielle Carteris, president of FIA, says that the advertising industry globally “is attacking unions and the performers we represent.”

“FIA’s worldwide membership is calling out the unscrupulous corporations who are working with the ICA — refusing to negotiate fairly with performers — to maximize their own profits,” she adds. “This attack on ACTRA in Canada is an attack on all of us.”

ACTRA’s boycott was launched in March and targets a number of brands that the union says are working with agencies that have locked its talent out, including Canadian Tire, Rogers and H&R Block. With FIA’s support, the boycott is now expanding to multinational brands including Volkswagen, Visa, Lindt, Rakuten Kobo, John Frieda and Johnson & Johnson.

Walmart, McDonald’s and M&M Food Market were initially included in the boycott, but were removed after its agency Cossette signed a letter of continuance with ACTRA.

FIA voted unanimously to support the boycott at an executive committee meeting on Sept. 29 in Istanbul. At the same meeting, it voted to support SAG-AFTRA members in their labour action in the U.S., as well as the Actors Union of Turkey (AUT).

“FIA’s endorsement is elevating our boycott on an international level,” said Eleanor Noble, ACTRA’s national president. “We appreciate FIA’s support for ACTRA’s boycott of brands that use ICA’s union-busting ad agencies and we stand in full support of SAG-AFTRA’s battle for a fair, respectful and equitable agreement – as we do for the AUT’s fight for dubbing performers.”

“It has never been clearer that global corporate giants are determined to impoverish workers,” states Marie Kelly, ACTRA’s national executive director and VP of FIA. “Now more than ever, our unions must collaborate and share what we are doing at each of our bargaining tables.”

This story originally appeared in Strategy

Photo courtesy of ACTRA; pictured: Representatives of the International Federation of Actors from around the world sport ACTRA T-shirts in a demonstration of solidarity on Sept. 29