Unionized workers at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival have secured a tentative agreement with employers less than a week before the annual event gets underway.

Representatives from the union Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) confirmed an agreement was reached over the weekend. The group of roughly 60 unionized workers will review the agreement and vote on whether to ratify on Tuesday (July 16).

The annual film festival, which includes the Frontières international coproduction market, will begin on Thursday (July 18) and runs until Aug. 4. 

Festival workers went on a one-day strike on July 11 amid negotiations with employers, calling for employment status over freelance contracts and minimum wages. The union members had unanimously approved up to five days of strikes in June to help in the bargaining process.

Fantasia employees formed the union under the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture – Confédération des syndicats nationaux (FNCC – CSN) last September, but had yet to reach an initial collective agreement with employers.

Fantasia did not respond to a request for comment at press time.

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