B.C. unions are getting aggressive, so local producers are sending up flares.

‘Unions are becoming more aggressive and will be a major destabilizer, right at the wrong time,’ warns Christine Haebler, coproducer of Peter Greenaway’s feature film Nightwatching.

With the Canadian dollar flying north of the greenback and a writers strike south of the border, the industry in North America is volatile.

B.C. producers are especially concerned that New York-based IATSE is using the stormy climate to take advantage of the local market. Some say the union is trying to take over shoots from the Association of Canadian Film Craftspeople.

‘They’re going after every ACFC production,’ says Brightlight Pictures cofounder Shawn Williamson, speaking from a set in Ireland.

‘IATSE wants all the work, whereas before, they’d do the bigger-budget American films and ACFC would do the smaller $5-million to $7-million films,’ says Williamson. ‘They want to eliminate union competition.’

Williamson speculates that IATSE is looking to create a monopoly.

‘New York is taking an active role in trying to wipe out ACFC,’ he says. ‘IATSE is pursuing global, North American domination.

‘As producers, we’re not going to stand by and watch it happen. They’re driving us out. We can go to Halifax or Europe, [but] this is going to affect local industry…With practically every U.S. state having a tax credit mimicking ours, we don’t need one more obstacle, not now.’

Brightlight has traditionally enjoyed a good relationship with both unions, says Williamson, noting that his productions have used both IATSE and ACFC. ‘But in the last year,’ he says, ‘the [BC Council of Film Unions, including IATSE 699, IATSE 891 and Teamsters Local 155] has stopped negotiating below their published rates.’

IATSE responds that it’s a buyer’s market.

‘Right now, we don’t have enough people or studio space to meet the demand,’ says Don Ramsden, IATSE 669 business agent. ‘Why on earth would we take a lesser position? It would be completely stupid.

‘We have incredible amounts of work, right across Canada,’ Ramsden continues, adding that Hollywood has decided that an expensive product is better than no product.

‘The dollar doesn’t matter, as studios are overflowing with productions in anticipation of the ugly labor situation [unfolding] in the States,’ Ramsden says.

He believes the real problem ‘is that Canada has driven private capital out of the film industry. If we want a strong domestic industry, producers need to get together to create a new financing model, instead of going to labor and saying ‘give us more.”

Ramsden doesn’t dispute that IATSE is trying to dominate the North American market.

‘New York is looking at the entire world, not just B.C.,’ Ramsden says. ‘All of us speak to the same 25 people. It’s in our interest to work together. We need to take a unified approach – the same way studios did 20 years ago.’

IATSE also stated its position on eliminating competition.

Ken Anderson, newly elected president of IATSE 891, says that ‘there’s no way to eliminate competition. The Labour Board won’t allow it.’

He says IATSE is abiding by the letter of the law.

‘We’re trying to do what government wanted us to do,’ Anderson explains. ‘We’re adhering to the Tysoe Report. We’re trying to be more flexible, creating tiered rates for high- and low-budget productions.’

Anderson says his main focus in his new position ‘is to make sure members are protected, and that we are flexible enough to keep the work here and producers making films here. The push for us is to make sure we have the best-trained people. It’s a tangible that people don’t see upfront, but a highly skilled crew brings value that pays off in the end.’

Bruce Scott, secretary treasurer of Teamsters Local 155, says price reductions don’t work.

‘We introduced substantial reductions and the dollar started climbing. We didn’t do very well at the negotiating table. It was a double-edged sword – trying to do the right thing in attracting business, but we took a good kick in the pants trying to be competitive. How low are we expected to go?’

Greg Chambers, ACFC West Local 2020 CEP business manager, says it’s been a good year for his members, maybe too good of a year.

‘We’ve taken on a larger portion of the Canadian market; we’ve got our niche and it’s growing,’ says Chambers. ‘The thing is, [IATSE] can compete against us, but we can’t go after the U.S. studio work because of Section 41.’

Chambers confirms that IATSE and other members of the union council are trying to get certification on independent Canadian projects around town, including those of Brightlight and non-union Insight Film Studios.

‘Right now, it’s sitting at the Labour Board,’ says Chambers. ‘But in the meantime, it’s business as usual. This happens every few years…But I am worried it is going to scare away productions from coming to B.C. With the rising Canadian dollar, the last thing we need is to be viewed as having an unstable labor environment.’