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Film Extras Make PACT With TNG’s Canadian Media Guild: SBC Wireless Headquarters Workers Join CWA
It seems like everyone is getting into the act, but not everyone who appears in Canadian movies and television productions gets equal pay, benefits or job security under a strong union contract. That’s why more than 700 background performers, or “extras,” last fall formed the Professional Association of Canadian Talent.
On Jan. 7, following the recommendation of their executive committee, more than 100 members representing the association decided to take PACT to the next level. In a spirited meeting they voted almost unanimously to become a branch of the Canadian Media Guild, TNG-CWA.
“We are now an official trade union, and we’ll take the necessary steps to obtain a certification order that will give us the right to engage in collective bargaining,” said PACT President Charlie Fife.
CMG President Lise Lareau said the Guild at first tried to help PACT hook up with another union, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA). PACT chose to instead become a branch of CMG when ACTRA showed no desire to have them as members.
“It’s pretty surprising we’re at this point, but we’re glad to have them join us,” Lareau explained. “For the Canadian Media Guild and the entire union, this is an entry into the film industry. It’s a convergence of the people who do content. For us, it’s a direction we should be going. If you’re a media union, you should represent all the media.”
The Canadian Media Guild, TNG-CWA Local 213, is The Newspaper Guild’s largest local, representing about 4,500 journalists, anchors, producers, directors and announcers, as well as off-camera personnel throughout Canada. Many of its members work within the broad network of television stations that make up the Canadian Broadcasting Company.
Though PACT initially sought to affiliate with ACTRA — which represents the principal performers who have speaking roles in movies and TV — five meetings in five months between PACT and ACTRA leadership failed to produce a merger agreement.
Part of the problem is that most PACT members pass anonymously in front of the camera or mimic conversations in the background of scenes. They are usually freelancers who work a day or two on one production, then move on to another. Earning on average $7 an hour, with no benefits, they often patch together careers by working through several different agents.
ACTRA members, on the other hand, typically work under a collective bargaining agreement and play speaking parts. They earn more than $18 an hour plus overtime and benefits. ACTRA contracts provide that a certain number of ACTRA members must be employed as background performers at union wages, but allow producers to hire an unlimited number of extras who are not represented.
“ACTRA says these people (PACT) are represented because they have background performers in their bargaining certificate,” explained CMG Staff Representative Keith Maskell. “But these people are not in ACTRA.”
“These people have no representation and no involvement in that union,” stressed TNG-CWA Canada Director Arnold Amber. “They can’t vote on their contract, and they have the right to be represented.”
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley noted that the potential exists for organizing at least 1,000 freelance “extras” in Canada and praised the Canadian Media Guild for “its unique ability to attract new members.”
Lareau said that PACT-CMG will seek out additional freelance extras by advertising in trade papers across the country.
The next step for PACT will be to approve new bylaws Jan. 21, then apply for a bargaining certificate from the Canadian Artists and Performers Professional Relations Tribunal, which under Canadian law regulates collective bargaining in the entertainment industry. A decision is not expected before fall.
Maskell hoped a possible jurisdictional challenge from ACTRA could be resolved amicably. “Hey, we’re going to have to be at the same bargaining table,” he said.
Wireless Solidarity
CWA Local 6215 won its second major unit through a card check election at SBC Wireless. The unit of 400 SBC Wireless Headquarters employees, said District 9 Organizing Coordinator Sandy Rusher, brings the total to 1,200 SBC Wireless employees organized in the Dallas/Fort Worth area within the last year.
CWA Vice President Ben Turn Jr., of District 6, credited the win to the efforts of Local 6171 President J.D. Williams, the local’s executive board and local organizers Evelyn Toliver, Doug Johnson and Winston Evans.
Toliver said the local first approached headquarters workers in 1998 when they were working to organize customer service. They backed off when they learned that campaign was to be directed at Dallas “properties” only.
A card check drive normally takes three or four months. But because contacts had already been established, Toliver said, “This campaign moved relatively fast.”
The first card was signed Sept. 30, 1999, which started the 60-day clock per CWA’s agreement with SBC. By Nov. 29, the local had collected 242 signatures out of 366 eligible, figures Rusher reported on Jan. 3 as certified by the American Arbitration Association.
Toliver said that even though the company honored its neutrality agreement and permitted on-site access, most meetings with workers were conducted off the premises of four headquarters offices.
Service representative Gloria Garnett took the lead at the Glenn Campbell office, with 157 eligible workers. Garnett had been in earlier, unsuccessful campaigns for Wireless. “She was eager to get started on this one. She moved at least 80 percent of her office in our direction,” Toliver said.
Toliver also singled out strong efforts by inside organizers Monica Murphy at Revenue Management, 210 workers; Felicia Jackson and Cindy Esparza, the Corporate Office, about 100 employees; and Vernon Lincoln at Spring Valley Technical Support, where 11 of 12 workers signed cards.
Toliver said the fact that most of the Wireless workers had union background from previous jobs or had family members who belonged to unions helped tremendously. “They knew that working for Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. was totally different from working for Southwestern Bell Wireless, and the difference was CWA.”
Better pay, consistent work rules and recognition of seniority are among issues that will be addressed in bargaining, chaired by District 6 Southern Area Director Bill Davis Jr.
On Jan. 7, following the recommendation of their executive committee, more than 100 members representing the association decided to take PACT to the next level. In a spirited meeting they voted almost unanimously to become a branch of the Canadian Media Guild, TNG-CWA.
“We are now an official trade union, and we’ll take the necessary steps to obtain a certification order that will give us the right to engage in collective bargaining,” said PACT President Charlie Fife.
CMG President Lise Lareau said the Guild at first tried to help PACT hook up with another union, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA). PACT chose to instead become a branch of CMG when ACTRA showed no desire to have them as members.
“It’s pretty surprising we’re at this point, but we’re glad to have them join us,” Lareau explained. “For the Canadian Media Guild and the entire union, this is an entry into the film industry. It’s a convergence of the people who do content. For us, it’s a direction we should be going. If you’re a media union, you should represent all the media.”
The Canadian Media Guild, TNG-CWA Local 213, is The Newspaper Guild’s largest local, representing about 4,500 journalists, anchors, producers, directors and announcers, as well as off-camera personnel throughout Canada. Many of its members work within the broad network of television stations that make up the Canadian Broadcasting Company.
Though PACT initially sought to affiliate with ACTRA — which represents the principal performers who have speaking roles in movies and TV — five meetings in five months between PACT and ACTRA leadership failed to produce a merger agreement.
Part of the problem is that most PACT members pass anonymously in front of the camera or mimic conversations in the background of scenes. They are usually freelancers who work a day or two on one production, then move on to another. Earning on average $7 an hour, with no benefits, they often patch together careers by working through several different agents.
ACTRA members, on the other hand, typically work under a collective bargaining agreement and play speaking parts. They earn more than $18 an hour plus overtime and benefits. ACTRA contracts provide that a certain number of ACTRA members must be employed as background performers at union wages, but allow producers to hire an unlimited number of extras who are not represented.
“ACTRA says these people (PACT) are represented because they have background performers in their bargaining certificate,” explained CMG Staff Representative Keith Maskell. “But these people are not in ACTRA.”
“These people have no representation and no involvement in that union,” stressed TNG-CWA Canada Director Arnold Amber. “They can’t vote on their contract, and they have the right to be represented.”
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley noted that the potential exists for organizing at least 1,000 freelance “extras” in Canada and praised the Canadian Media Guild for “its unique ability to attract new members.”
Lareau said that PACT-CMG will seek out additional freelance extras by advertising in trade papers across the country.
The next step for PACT will be to approve new bylaws Jan. 21, then apply for a bargaining certificate from the Canadian Artists and Performers Professional Relations Tribunal, which under Canadian law regulates collective bargaining in the entertainment industry. A decision is not expected before fall.
Maskell hoped a possible jurisdictional challenge from ACTRA could be resolved amicably. “Hey, we’re going to have to be at the same bargaining table,” he said.
Wireless Solidarity
CWA Local 6215 won its second major unit through a card check election at SBC Wireless. The unit of 400 SBC Wireless Headquarters employees, said District 9 Organizing Coordinator Sandy Rusher, brings the total to 1,200 SBC Wireless employees organized in the Dallas/Fort Worth area within the last year.
CWA Vice President Ben Turn Jr., of District 6, credited the win to the efforts of Local 6171 President J.D. Williams, the local’s executive board and local organizers Evelyn Toliver, Doug Johnson and Winston Evans.
Toliver said the local first approached headquarters workers in 1998 when they were working to organize customer service. They backed off when they learned that campaign was to be directed at Dallas “properties” only.
A card check drive normally takes three or four months. But because contacts had already been established, Toliver said, “This campaign moved relatively fast.”
The first card was signed Sept. 30, 1999, which started the 60-day clock per CWA’s agreement with SBC. By Nov. 29, the local had collected 242 signatures out of 366 eligible, figures Rusher reported on Jan. 3 as certified by the American Arbitration Association.
Toliver said that even though the company honored its neutrality agreement and permitted on-site access, most meetings with workers were conducted off the premises of four headquarters offices.
Service representative Gloria Garnett took the lead at the Glenn Campbell office, with 157 eligible workers. Garnett had been in earlier, unsuccessful campaigns for Wireless. “She was eager to get started on this one. She moved at least 80 percent of her office in our direction,” Toliver said.
Toliver also singled out strong efforts by inside organizers Monica Murphy at Revenue Management, 210 workers; Felicia Jackson and Cindy Esparza, the Corporate Office, about 100 employees; and Vernon Lincoln at Spring Valley Technical Support, where 11 of 12 workers signed cards.
Toliver said the fact that most of the Wireless workers had union background from previous jobs or had family members who belonged to unions helped tremendously. “They knew that working for Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. was totally different from working for Southwestern Bell Wireless, and the difference was CWA.”
Better pay, consistent work rules and recognition of seniority are among issues that will be addressed in bargaining, chaired by District 6 Southern Area Director Bill Davis Jr.