Next week will mark the 13-month anniversary of the lock-out of actors from the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) by the Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA). The ongoing dispute shows the standard way gig workers are treated across sectors.
“We’re gig workers. We’re precarious workers, and doing commercials has always been really helpful to subsidize our income,” said Eleanor Noble, National President of ACTRA. “It subsidizes many performers’ income. A lot of performers live on just solely making commercials either radio spots or on camera commercials. It’s a part of what we do and it supports us. It’s a reasonable income that helps us survive as gig workers.”
Noble has said that for the labour of ACTRA performers and gig workers to be respected, agreements that require better working conditions must be respected as well.
The ICA has denied that they are locking out ACTRA performers, but Noble said that their willingness to work with the union’s members only goes so far.
“We know in the media that the ICA is saying they love working with ACTRA members. They say they are still open to working with ACTRA members. They say it is ACTRA who is preventing members from working with the ICA,” Noble said in an interview with rabble.ca. “But they want to work with actor members only when they can decide what the rates are and what the conditions are. So that’s called a lockout.”
The ICA had an agenda of opting in and out of the National Commercial Agreement (NCA) at their will, according to Noble.
“We’re a union, we want to work union and we didn’t agree with opting in and opting out. That’s a tactic to bust the union,” Noble said.
Noble explained that gig workers should not need to be at the mercy of the employer’s conditions. Unions for gig workers, especially when there are multiple employers, help to set a standard in an industry that respects workers.
To hold the ICA accountable, ACTRA is calling on people to boycott six brands. ACTRA has called out Rogers, Wendy’s, H&R Block, Canadian Tire, Home Hardware and Sleep Country for using advertising agencies that have walked away from bargaining to renew the NCA.
As the dispute between the ICA and ACTRA presses on, the NCA was renewed between ACTRA and the Association of Canadian Agencies (ACA) on Tuesday.
ACTRA has said on their website that the NCA is a “gold standard for gig workers.” The agreement provides higher rates, retirement contributions, and a multi-employer benefit plan.
“We are in the process of ratifying the renewal with them [the ACA],” Noble said. “We’re very pleased that they are committed to working with us and we’re looking forward to ratifying that.”
“We really appreciate the support that we’re getting across the country,” Noble added. “It’s very important to us that we get back to the table and that we continue on our 60-year partnership. We had a real partnership and it’s in a position of instability at the moment. So we want to stabilize our industry.”
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