Strike by Cdn film, TV and radio workers centres on Internet performances

TORONTO (CP) - Canadian actors announced a strike Monday that some feared could shut down the country's film and television industry, with "Corner Gas" star Eric Peterson, funnyman Colin Mochrie and actress Wendy Crewson among those complaining that they're being asked to work for free on Internet and cellphone broadcasts.
Unionized television and radio performers were told not to report to work in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan on Monday after negotiators representing actors on one side and producers on the other failed to reach a deal following marathon weekend talks.

The biggest sticking point remained how actors would be compensated for new and emerging media platforms such as the Internet and cellphone broadcasts, with the actors' union insisting that new media be treated the same as traditional film and TV work.

"We say anything which is produced for the Internet should also be paid at the same rate," said Steve Waddell, chief negotiator for the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA).

The current minimum wage for actors is $565 a day, said Waddell, who complained that the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) has offered "substantially discounted rates" for material that ends up online.

"They're starting at zero and when you start at zero and they're refusing to negotiate on that issue you end up in the situation where you have no choice but to walk away," Waddell said of the job action.

Despite the heightened rhetoric, the strike did not actually disrupt ongoing productions because of pre-arranged deals the union signed with individual producers to keep those projects afloat.

Waddell said those agreements - in which producers were required to meet a demand for a five per cent wage hike - pointed to a break in ranks among the producers' association.

But CFTPA chief negotiator John Barrack derided the interim deals as akin to putting a gun to producers' heads, saying they predominantly involve mid-size and smaller production companies that can't afford to halt their projects.

Barrack said at least three large-scale U.S. productions have cancelled plans to bring work to Canada due to the labour instability and that more could follow.

He blamed ACTRA for pricing themselves out of the industry by demanding too much pay and too much leeway in digital media rights.

Any new contract would have to acknowledge the "ultra-low-budget world of new media" or digital production would be forced to go non-union or not get done at all, said Barrack.

"We have to be ahead of the curve if we're going to stay competitive and a world leader," said Barrack, noting producers have offered staggered rates and a percentage of revenue for things like mobisodes and online broadcasts.

"We're about to lose that opportunity."

In turn, Waddell accused the producers of seeking an unfettered right to edit and repackage material any way they want, leaving performers out in the cold.

"They wanted to be able to produce unlimited amounts of material in a day and then chop up that material anyway they chose to do, creating multiple products without any additional compensation to performers," complained Waddell, who represents 21,000 of Canada's film, television and radio workers.

He says ACTRA has negotiated better deals with other production groups, including the CBC which offers a day rate plus 10 per cent of absolute gross distribution revenue for new media material such as mobisodes.

Television producer Steve Comeau, whose Halifax company Collideascope Digital produces Teletoon's "Delilah and Julius," said he refused to sign a continuation letter with ACTRA even though it could stall work on his show.

"It guarantees rewarding bad behaviour on their behalf ... trying to extort me into agreeing to things that are just not reasonable," Comeau said.

"I believe in a due process between our two organizations."

Barrack said the association would be filing court documents Monday afternoon challenging the legality of the walkout.

ACTRA is set to strike in Quebec on Wednesday, with other provinces following from there.

Peterson said he's upset that he's had to swallow a steady pay cut over the past five years, noting that at times he's been asked to work for minimum wage despite a celebrated and longstanding career.

"We don't work for free. We don't work in TV for free, we don't work on film for free and we're certainly not going to work on the Internet for free, and that's what we've been asked to do," said Peterson.

© The Canadian Press, 2007