ACTRA negotiations break down General News / General TV News Posted by Tripster on Dec 21, 2006 - 01:44 PM | |
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Negotiations between ACTRA and producers broke down tonight after producers tabled an outrageous pay offer and demanded free internet rights. No new negotiations are scheduled. ACTRA is in a strike position in most of Canada starting in January 2007. "I very much regret that Canadian producers have decided to provoke a dispute in which they will be the principal victims," said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA's National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator. "But given the conduct of their trade associations, we appear to be a few days away from a major disruption in Canada's film and television industry."
Canadian stars turned out in force late Wednesday and into Thursday morning to support the negotiating team including Wendy Crewson, Charmion King, Gordon Pinsent, Maria Del Mar, Peter Keleghan, Sarah Polley, Eric Peterson, Maury Chaykin, Peter MacNeill, Peter Outerbridge, Liz Ramos, Jason Blicker, Art Hindle, Michael Murphy, Susan Coyne, Raoul Bhaneja, Jeff Pustil and Rino Romano. ACTRA presented a comprehensive offer to settle the current contract dispute, including:
"These are the issues producers told us they cared about and wanted to see addressed," Waddell said. "In return we asked for a fair and reasonable pay settlement." In return, producers offered a pay proposal that included a 0%, 0% and 1% offer on Canadian productions, and held to contract demands that amount to demanding work from Canadian performers on the internet for free. "We're not going to give away the future for free. And we are not going to let our members' pay continue to erode compared to other performers in North America." Waddell said that ACTRA is prepared to speak with producers at any time, but that ACTRA will settle for nothing less than a fair contract without concessions. He said he was not hopeful a settlement will be reached. He said ACTRA will begin a set of announcements regarding the industrial action it will take in support of its bargaining position once the union is in a strike position - on January 1, 2007, in most of Canada. ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) is a national organization of professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada. ACTRA represents the interests of 21,000 members across Canada - the foundation of Canada's highly acclaimed professional performing community. | |
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This article is from CHANNEL CANADA http://www.channelcanada.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.channelcanada.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1694 |