Mediators tapped to avert Canadian actors' strike

By Etan Vlessing

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - Provincial mediators are being lined up to restart stalled labor talks between Canadian actors and North American producers as a strike threat looms over U.S. film and TV shoots north of the border.

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), which represents 21,000 domestic performers, called for mediation last week to bring about a new independent production agreement.

That was after talks that began October 23 collapsed when producers demanded actors take pay cuts of 10%-25% for minimum daily rates paid on film and TV productions shot here. ACTRA, on the other hand, is seeking a 15% raise in minimum rates over three years for homegrown shoots and a 40% jump over five years for U.S. productions in Canada.

A mediator has been named in Quebec and another is set to be named in Ontario later this week, said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA's national executive director and lead negotiator.

On the other side of the bargaining table, the Canadian Film and Television Production Assn. (CFTPA) said it would prefer a national mediator and reiterated its charge that ACTRA was playing the conciliation card early in the negotiations as a prelude to a possible strike early in the new year.

"It's very clear to us that ACTRA wants to go on strike, which is unfortunate," said John Barrack, CFTPA general counsel and lead negotiator,

The producers offered to make any new indie production agreement retroactive in return for ACTRA agreeing to a single national mediator.

Waddell insisted ACTRA was not seeking an unnecessary strike to back its demands at the bargaining table, but rather was complying with Canadian labor law by applying for mediation to work out a deal. The existing agreement expires December 31.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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