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organizing and activism. There were fifty-three
separate organizing campaigns
undertaken by Canadian stage Locals in
the last four years. This level of organizing
activity is unprecedented. It is also a
testament to the fact that the IATSE has
something to offer unrepresented men
and women working in our industries. It
further reflects a willingness on the part
of our members to offer those men and
women an opportunity to improve their
lives within the IATSE family.
Perhaps no better examples of stage
Locals creating the necessary internal
structures to organize are Local 56 in
Montreal and Local 58 in Toronto. Both
Locals have been steadily reaching out
to the unrepresented young workforces
in their respective cities. They have been
successful in organizing a number of
venues. Local 56 launched five organizing
campaigns. Local 58 was successful in
six of the eight campaigns it commenced,
with one matter currently pending before
the Labour Board. Other Locals that were
particularly active include Local 63 in
Winnipeg, Local 210 in Edmonton, and
Local 262 in Montreal. Even Local 709,
our newest Canadian Local, which was
chartered in April of 2013, got active in
organizing within its region. Although it
is primarily a motion picture technicians
Local, it was successful in organizing Production
Rigging Inc., which services Mile
One arena in St. John’s, Newfoundland
and Labrador, as well as several other
stage venues throughout the province.
Our ability to penetrate new markets
has enabled IA Locals to negotiate
stronger contracts and allowed IATSE
members to secure work in major venues
with employers that have historically been
unfriendly to unions. Local 210 used its
dominant position in the city of Edmonton
to negotiate a first contract for the
20,700-seat Rogers Place, which is home
to the Edmonton Oilers. In Quebec City,
Local 523 was similarly situated and it
secured bargaining rights for the 20,400-
seat Videotron Arena, which is managed
by AEG but owned in part by Quebecor,
a notoriously anti-union media corporation.
Some Canadian organizing opportunities
were strictly grassroots efforts,
spontaneously initiated by workers approaching
the Alliance to secure their
economic futures. Other campaigns were
strategically planned over many years.
For example, Local 461 in St. Catharines,
Ontario, became aware of a new entertainment
complex being developed by
the city in conjunction with Brock University.
The Local worked with the International
and certified Brock University,
where it had several members working. It
then successfully utilized that contract to
claim successor bargaining rights for the
state-of-the-art FirstOntario Performing
Arts Centre when it opened in 2015. The
Local was eventually successful in securing
a collective agreement, the result of
strategic planning that had taken place
five years earlier.
Under my direction, the Canadian
Pink Contracts were completely restructured
as term collective agreements rather
than the arcane individual employment
contracts of years past. Unlike the U.S.
Pinks, the Canadian Agreements were
negotiated individually with each of the
fifteen touring producers because there
is no Canadian employer association that
could bargain on behalf of all producers.
The International negotiated each
of the contracts in consultation with the
affected Locals. The first cycle of agreements
expired in December of 2012 and
the second in 2015. We have just completed
the third cycle of negotiations.
The agreements have included some innovative
features. I am pleased to note all
Pink Contracts in Canada now include
an entitlement to paid leaves of absence
for victims of domestic violence. I am
equally pleased to note that IATSE local
unions have also negotiated similar provisions
in their stagecraft agreements.
The Canadian Department has instituted
an outreach program to ensure that every
Canadian touring production is visited by
an IATSE International Representative.
That initiative will continue in the future.
Tradeshow and audiovisual (AV)
work is another area in which stage Locals
in Canada have seen an upswing in work
opportunities for IATSE members. In
many instances, however, that work is
not being performed under a collective
bargaining agreement and is therefore
vulnerable. Canadian officers and staff
have taken a hard look at U.S. examples
where the International has been able to
secure national agreements for this work.
In some instances, such as with PSAV, we
have been successful in expanding the
IATSE’s term agreement to Vancouver. We
look forward to continuing our efforts
to expand national AV agreements to
Canada and to otherwise secure collective
agreements. This is the most reliable way
to ensure that work for our members in
this expanding industry is secured. The
volume of motion picture and television
production has reached historic levels in
many regions in Canada. Here our orga-
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