CWAers Fight for Fairness in Factual TV

The Canadian Media Guild-CWA Canada is welcoming a $35-million class action lawsuit filed on behalf of hundreds of reality and factual TV workers who have worked at Cineflix Canada, which produces TV shows including Property Brothers and Mayday.

The legal action follows a five-year campaign by CMG and its parent union CWA Canada to bring fair working conditions to this part of the entertainment industry.

"Reality and factual TV are the wild west of the entertainment world," said Lise Lareau, a coordinator of the CMG's Fairness in Factual TV campaign. "People working in this area of production are cut out of labor laws. They don't have the rights of other employees, and historically they've been left out of union contracts enjoyed by the rest of the entertainment industry."

Most reality and factual TV production companies make their workers set up their own corporations or sign contracts saying they are "independent contractors" and then don't provide overtime pay, vacation pay, and paid holidays. The failure to pay these basic entitlements is the basis for the class action lawsuit.

Learn more and join the Fairness in Factual TV campaign here.