Vancouver: Labor negotiators in Vancouver are hammering out an unprecedented master collective agreement, weeks before production for the lucrative pilot season begins.

On Dec. 15, b.c.’s Labour Relations Board ruled that IATSE Locals 891 and 669 and Teamsters Local 155 – under the auspices of the B.C. & Yukon Council of Film Unions – could join forces to forge a collective agreement. The move is meant to rationalize a complicated labor scene and bring peace to a jurisdiction fraught with infighting.

The lrb decision fell under Section 41 of the b.c. government’s labor code, a section of the act designed to simplify industries like the provincial railway in which there are many unions at work.

As a result of the Section 41 decision, certain projects, producers and unions will operate under a single contract instead of negotiating separate contracts with each union for each production – eliminating about 70 contracts each year.

Under Section 41, bcycfu is the exclusive bargaining agent for feature films (with below-the-line labor costs of more than us$4 million) and one-hour series produced for abc, cbs and nbc.

The decision would have affected at least 25% of total productions – and considerably more in terms of production budget value – in 1995.

Projects that fall outside the bcycfu’s exclusive jurisdiction are mow work for Fox and other television corporations, commercials, and cbc television production. The exclusive agreement also doesn’t pertain to existing collective agreements such as James Shavick Enterprises’ collective agreement with the acfc or Cannell Studios’ agreement with bcycfu members.

Local filmmakers are hesitant to embrace the landmark decision. Most remark that while they fear a monopoly by the big film unions, they hope the contract will be negotiated in good faith and bring peace to an industry that has begun to lose u.s. business because of constant inter-union bickering.

Responding to the undercurrent of discomfort with a bcycfu monopoly, new b.c. film commissioner Pete Mitchell says: ‘Both sides are happy with the exclusive jurisdiction. I’m in favor of certainty and uncertainty is plaguing us.’

Mitchell says the rate of calls from u.s. producers scouting b.c. has picked up since the lrb decision in December – especially in the feature film sector, which had waned in 1995 because of the labor unrest here.

Even with more u.s. interest, unions with less presence like the acfc and cep (formerly nabet) will be largely excluded from work. ‘(Section 41) affects them, not in an immediate sense, but it limits their potential (for growth),’ Mitchell says.

Allan Krasnick, lawyer for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and Pacific Motion Pictures, says the Section 41 decision is about economics. ‘This is our chance for an attitudinal sea change,’ he says, ‘to tell producers b.c. is open for business.’

However, he remains cautious. ‘The real test is how collective bargaining goes. It raises the stakes if we don’t get a deal. We could lose business,’ says Krasnick.

Don Ramsden, president of IATSE 891, says Section 41 is a new era for b.c.’s film industry. ‘It’s been worth all our efforts,’ he says of the lrb hearings which began in April. ‘All of us, we’re in the business of making movies. We’re not in the business of labor relations.’

In its decision, the five-member panel cochaired by Richard Longpre, Brent Mullin, and Keith Oleksiuk stated: ‘The fundamental purpose of Section 41 is to provide a stable and effective collective bargaining framework(to) take into account the unique nature of the British Columbia film industry.’

b.c. labor represents 55% to 65% of below-the-line costs, and therefore a major factor in determining where a show is shot. ‘The degree to which a film producer can forecast production costs with reliability plays a significant role in the location decision,’ states the lrb panel. ‘The actual cost determines the producers’ preparedness to return to b.c. for future productions in an industry characterized by highly mobile capital.’

The panel continues: ‘The offer of the American and Canadian producers to engage in industry bargaining is thus a significant step forward for the industry in b.c. both in terms of coordinating and rationalizing collective bargaining and improving the province’s ability to compete with other jurisdictions in North America.’

The bcycfu will be subject to lrb review every two years to ensure it is responding to a rapidly changing industry. The lrb will also establish a film industry ombudsman, or ‘umpire,’ to handle disputes.

The next phase in the Section 41 process will determine who else sits on the council with Locals 891, 669 and 155. One prospective member is the Union of B.C. Performers, which continues a lengthy jurisdictional dispute with actra-bc.

A subsequent Section 41 step will address whether the b.c. branch of the Directors Guild of Canada – which has waffled in its support of the Section 41 application from the beginning of the process last April – will be included in the council.

In summing up its decision, the lrb panel stated the granting of the Section 41 application is meant ‘to secure industrial peace and promote collective bargaining settlements in the film industry. Our decision is in the best interest of various parties in the industry itself and the economy of the province of b.c.’

‘The exclusive jurisdiction has little, if any, existing practical effect on other trade unions in the industry. These (bcycfu) council members have dominated the representation of employees in the designated exclusive jurisdiction. In our meetings with acfc and cep, in particular, neither demonstrated a presence within the exclusive jurisdiction.’