While the Liberal government was promising to introduce anti-scab legislation, federal crown corporations were using non-unionized labour.
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) which represents actors, including those who do commercial work, has been locked out for nearly two years by the Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA), the organization which contracts actors for commercials with governments as well as major brands like Wendy’s and Canadian Tire.
ICA has refused to sign on to ACTRA’s National Commercial Agreement (NCA), which ensures wages, benefits and other protections for their members.
ACTRA discovered that two Canadian crown corporations, Canada Post and the CBC, both hired actors through ICA member agencies who were not unionized to create commercials.
“A crown corporation owned by the Canadian government has no business actively prolonging this dispute by enriching an anti-union agency that refuses to sign our National Commercial Agreement,” reads a letter from ACTRA president Eleanor Noble to Jean Yves-Duclos, federal minister of Public Services and Procurement.
Canada Post had hired non-unionized actors for commercials through The&Partnership talent and branding agency.
The call for auditions specifically stated that they were looking for non-unionized actors for a commercial with a filming date of August 28 of this year.
“Jean-Yves, this makes Canada Post complicit in the suffering of unionized performers and their families since April 26, 2022, by lining the pockets of a union busting agency intent on undermining ACTRA performers in the commercial sector. ACTRA members feel betrayed by their own government,” Noble’s letter to Duclos goes on to read.
In an emailed reply to ACTRA, Canada Post reiterated its commitment to supporting unionized labour.
“From the outset of our business with The&Partnership in 2019, Canada Post has focused on recruiting unionized talent for our projects, and we will continue to do so going forward. We will take this opportunity to reinforce with The&Partnership the importance of giving priority to the recruitment of unionized members,” reads the email from Canada Post.
The Canadian Olympic Committee through the CBC hired non-unionized labour with The Hive Inc. talent agency as recently as last month.
Labour minister: scab labour prolongs disputes
Canada’s Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, who introduced a bill into the House of Commons last week to ban scab labour from federal workplaces said that the use of scabs prolonged labour disputes.
“Replacement workers distract from the table, they prolong disputes, they poison workplaces for years,” O’Regan said during a speech in the House of Commons on September 20.
On Thursday, November 9 O’Regan finally introduced an anti-scab bill, dubbed Bill C-58 in the House of Commons after years of effort by unions and the NDP.
READ MORE: Anti-scab legislation introduced in win for unions and NDP
Bill C-58 would ban the use of scab workers in all federally regulated unionized workplaces with a few exceptions in cases of healthcare and public safety.
rabble asked O’Regan’s office for his reaction that crown corporations were using scab labour as recently as this summer but did not receive a response at time of publication.
In May at the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) convention, ACTRA introduced a motion calling on the federal government to change its procurement policy to prevent the use of scab labour either directly or indirectly through the use of subcontractors. This motion was passed by CLC delegates.
Editor’s Note 2023-13-11: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the Canadian Olympic Committee is a crown corporation. Canada Post and the CBC are crown corporations, the Canadian Olympic Committee is not.
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