ACTRA, the association that represents professional performers in film and television in most of Canada (including film and television puppeteers) went on strike today. Well, sort of.
The sort-of strike (more on that in the next paragraph) was called because ACTRA's negotiations with Canadian and American producers broke down over the weekend. As per usual in these types of disputes, both sides accuse the other of being unfair and unreasonable. You can read detailed coverage of the strike from The Hollywood Reporter and The Toronto Star, but the main issue seems to be the compensation Canadian performers - who are typically paid considerably less than their American counterparts - receive when their work appears on the internet and in other digital media (a similar strike by members of the Screen Actor's Guild is brewing in the United States).
What's really fascinating about the strike is that ACTRA is allowing film and TV production to continue despite the "strike" by getting individual producers to sign continuation letters, which allow ACTRA members to work if individual producers agree to all of the union's demands. The union's strategy seems to be to use the strike to try to peel producers away from their association one by one and get them to accept ACTRA's terms without much negotiation. The irony of course is that if the producers ever dared to do the same - bypass the union and make side deals with individual actors - ACTRA would scream bloody murder, accuse the producers of union-busting, and likely fine, expel or blacklist the performers who made a deal without them.
ACTRA's publicly stated bargaining position seems fairly reasonable and they deserve a good deal on the digital distribution issue, but it seems to me that if ACTRA wants to have their rights and authority respected they should play by the same negotiating rules they expect the producers to. In my opinion, either you're striking until you get a fair negotiated deal or your not. You shouldn't be allowed to have it both ways.
