Negotiations stall between WGC, CMPA over IPA

The parties have not returned to the bargaining table since Nov. 23, Playback has learned.

Negotiations have stalled between the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), Playback has learned.

Talks over a new Independent Production Agreement (IPA) between the two parties collapsed on Nov. 23, according to a memo from the CMPA to its members that has been obtained by Playback Daily.

The memo said that the CMPA has offered a four-month extension of the current IPA, which is set to expire on Dec. 31, that would include a 4.5% increase in minimum script fees as an incentive to get the WGC back to the bargaining table.

“In addition, we have advised the WGC that we are prepared to engage in substantive discussions regarding what they have identified as their key priorities that have not been adequately addressed thus far,” the memo continued.

The parties began negotiations on a new three-year IPA in October. According to the CMPA memo, the producers association’s most recent offer included minimum script fee increases of more than 11% for live-action productions, and nearly 20% for animation productions.

The memo also said that the CMPA was prepared to agree to artificial intelligence protections that are “substantively the same” as the protections the Writers Guild of America (WGA) achieved in its recent negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Both the WGC and CMPA said they were unable to comment on ongoing negotiations.

According to the CMPA memo, if an agreement is not reached by Dec. 31 the existing IPA would remain in place until a new deal is ratified, or a legal strike or lockout commences.

The memo specified that a strike or lockout cannot not take place until the parties utilize a third-party conciliator in negotiations, after which point a party would need to request the conciliator issue a report to state that an agreement has not been reached. Once the report is issued, a strike can commence after 15 days.

The stalled talks follow a disrupted production summer for the Canadian screen sector, stemming from a 148-day strike from the WGA and a 118-day strike from the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG – AFTRA).

Following the end of the WGA strike, WGC executive director Victoria Shen said that the Canadian guild would “be looking very closely at the details of the deal” the U.S. union struck with the AMPTP ahead of the WGC’s talks with the CMPA.

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