ACTRA wants Canadian producers to pay its members in u.s. dollars and enjoy working conditions equivalent to Screen Actors Guild members on ‘any production destined for the international marketplace’ which uses a u.s. performer, according to documents obtained by Playback.

In addition, the actors union is asking the cftpa to give Canadian performers fixed residuals, as opposed to prepayment for the use of those same productions.

Fixed residuals would entitle performers to be paid a residual fee every time a production is exhibited on tv. Currently, actra members usually receive residuals in the form of prepayments from producers, essentially ‘buying them out’ before productions go to air.

These demands among others make up actra’s position in its renegotiation of the Independent Production Agreement with the cftpa and apftq. The negotiations began in October and are scheduled to reconvene Feb. 18-22 in Montreal.

According to a draft of an information circular to be distributed this week to the more than 8,000 actra members, this ipa renegotiation marks the first time that the major u.s. studios were formally at the negotiating table, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which operates in Canada through the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association.

In an update to its members, actra’s circular says that since the first negotiating session in October, ‘we’ve made no significant progress in resolving any of the issues at the bargaining table.’

Sources close to the situation say that the current ipa renegotiation could prove to be particularly antagonistic and may eventually result in a strike mandate from actra membership – a situation that occurred in 1995 when the ipa was last negotiated.

However, a strike by actra or a lockout by the producers is not possible unless the February negotiations and a scheduled bargaining session in April fail to produce an agreement.

The actra circular claims that the producers are seeking a decrease in the residual amount that performers are paid. ‘The producers have demanded that prepayments for non-Canadian content television and cable productions be sharply cut from the current 105% (for 4 years use) to 70% (for 5 years use),’ says actra. ‘This means that performers could see their remuneration drop by hundreds of dollars per week.’

The producers are also demanding the right to import ‘any number of non-Canadian performers without restriction for non-Canadian content productions,’ actra tells its members.

When asked for comment, cftpa president Elizabeth McDonald would not address actra’s version of the ipa negotiations described in the circular. However, she did say, ‘It’s not the cftpa’s practice to negotiate in the media. We’ve come in good faith to the negotiation table and don’t think it’s appropriate to use these mechanisms.’

Besides parity for its members when working alongside u.s. performers, actra is demanding a redefinition of the ‘principal’ and ‘actor’ categories. actra wants all performers who speak at least one line of dialogue to be paid as ‘principal performers.’ This would eliminate the ‘actor’ category.

A minimum 12-hour turnaround time, up from the current 10 hours, is also among actra’s demands described in the circular.

The ipa expired Dec. 31 but ‘will continue in full force and effect while negotiations continue or until parties to the Agreement are legally entitled to terminate the Agreement,’ says an appendix to the ipa.