Directors Guild of Canada B.C. members have shown solidarity with their union leaders by overwhelmingly approving a possible strike in British Columbia if stalled talks on a new collective deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and its local producer counterpart, the Canadian Media Producers Association, do not reach agreement.
DGC B.C. members voted 92.2 percent in favor of a first-ever strike, with 86.2 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot, the union said Friday. “We thank our members for the solidarity that they have shown with this overwhelming mandate. Their strength and resolve make it clear that respect, fairness and safety in the workplace are non-negotiable,” Allan Harmon, district council chairman at DGC. B.C., said in a statement.
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The current collective agreement expired on March 31, 2021, though production has kept up in and around Vancouver as negotiations continued. The strike authorization vote aims to strengthen the hand of the union as it bargains for a new collective deal for directors, second unit directors, production and unit managers, and other below-the-line workers on U.S. studio and streamer film and TV shoots the Vancouver area.
“Our goal is to reach a fair agreement. We all care about this industry, so let’s all roll up our sleeves, get back to the table and find a solution,” Kendrie Upton, executive director of DGC B.C., said in a statement. Earlier this week the AMPTP and the CMPA warned that North American producers may steer film and TV series away from Vancouver after the DGC’s British Columbia branch called for the strike authorization vote.
“The DGC B.C.’s strike authorization vote sends a message of labor uncertainty in the province and seriously jeopardizes British Columbia’s reputation as an attractive location for motion picture production. Considering the potential for labor instability in British Columbia, companies represented by the AMPTP and CMPA may be forced to reevaluate their plans for basing new productions in the province,” the AMPTP and the CMPA, representing Canadian indie producers, said in a joint statement.
The DGC B.C. bargainers countered that safe harbor agreements signed with the B.C. Labor Board allow U.S. production to continue to come to the Canadian province while talks on a new labor deal with North American producers continue and before a formal strike notice is issued.
Both sides in the talks have no negotiating sessions currently scheduled and DGC B.C. can issue a 72-hour strike notice anytime in the next three months.
The DGC B.C. branch also receiving backing from its American sister union on Friday. “The Directors Guild of America stands in solidarity with our DGC brothers and sisters in British Columbia. The issues of respect, fair compensation and safety they are fighting for are important to all workers. We urge the AMPTP and the CMPA to return to the bargaining table and make a fair deal addressing these critical issues,” a DGA spokesperson said in a statement.
