The union representing 21,000 film, television and radio workers across Canada is officially on strike in three provinces. But you won't find actors picketing.
That's because all productions currently underway -- in Toronto at least, where a large portion of television and films are produced -- have signed "continuation letters", agreeing to the demands of the actors' union, ACTRA (the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists.)
Those productions have agreed to pay a five-per-cent increase in wages to performers, as well as an increase in other benefits, for a total of a seven-per-cent increase.
Thirty-two productions, such as the "Rick Mercer Report", the "Royal Canadian Air Farce" and the Canadian production of "Deal or No Deal," have signed those agreements and are exempt from the strike.
Meanwhile members elsewhere in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are being told not to show up for work unless the producers have agreements with ACTRA.
Performers will still be allowed to work on commercial and student films, union officials said.
Ken Ferguson, the president of Toronto Film Studios, a huge production facility that hosts many Hollywood productions, tells CTV.ca that producers are signing the letters because they have no choice. It would cost them more money to tear down sets and relocate than to pay the premiums demanded by ACTRA.
But he says he's not sure whether new productions will still choose to come to Toronto if the dispute drags on.
Productions in British Columbia are not affected by the ACTRA strike because actors and producers work under a different labour contract in that province.
Intense weekend negotiations failed to reach an agreement between the union and the producers before the strike deadline at midnight on Sunday. After receiving an overwhelming 97.6-per-cent strike mandate from its membership in December, ACTRA officially began its strike at 12:01 a.m. Monday morning.
"Regretfully, ACTRA has begun the first strike ever in our 64-year history," said Richard Hardacre, ACTRA's national president.
ACTRA is set to strike in Quebec on Wednesday.
One of the main sticking points is the use of a performer's work across new media, such as the Internet and cellphones, without compensation.
ACTRA is opposed to having work distributed on new media, such as in promotional materials, without extra pay. While ACTRA's members are willing to allow three such uses of their work for free, the producers want unlimited use.
Another dispute centres on wage increases. The union has been seeking a 15-per-cent wage increase over three years, in an effort to reduce the gap between pay in Canada and the U.S.
According to ACTRA, wages are 32-per-cent higher in the United States.
On the eve of the strike, the producers raised their offer to three per cent for each of the three years but on the condition they accept their regulations on Internet use. ACTRA refused the offer.
ACTRA avoided a strike in the fall of 2001 after it reached an agreement with the association that represents the country's film and TV producers. U.S. producers rushed to complete several projects being shot in Canada as the prospect of a strike loomed.
With files from The Canadian Press
