IATSE 3rd 2019_web

will need to be addressed in bargaining.
The Department will continue to monitor
these emerging trends and how they
impact the health and pension plans as
preparations for the 2021 Basic Agreement
negotiations begin.
As a result of the frenzy to build a library
of original content to draw viewers,
last year ended with the Motion Picture
Industry and Health Plans topped one
hundred million hours of contributions
for the first time, and the IANBF continues
to see increased employment in the
Motion Picture and TV area. Major and
mid-sized markets are reporting record
levels of employment.
The Department continues to negotiate
appropriate wages, terms and conditions
for all “new media” projects, both
for one-offs and term signatories signed
through the IATSE.
Vice President and Director of Canadian
Affairs John Lewis discussed
motion picture production in Canada.
The International continues to include
the Canadian Binder Agreement and the
Canadian Local Union Term Agreements
as part of the term signatory group of
contracts. The Canadian Local Unions
Term Agreements includes the BC Master
Agreement, the 873 Term Agreement and
the 411 Term Agreement. There are now
377 companies signatory to the Canadian
Binder Agreement and 43 to the Canadian
Local Unions Term Agreements.
Statistics up to April 2018 indicate the
total volume of film and television production
in Canada increased by 5.9% to
an all-time high of $8.92 billion. Virtually
all of the growth was due to another
sharp increase in the volume of Foreign
Location Services (FLS) production in
Canada. For only the second year, Foreign
Service Production work surpassed
domestic television and feature film.
BC Low Budget Organizing
Since 2016, Local 669 has continued
to organize lower budgeted productions
and the International is committed to
bringing this work under a collective
agreement. In January, Representative
Julia Neville and Vice President Lewis met
with the executive board of Local 891.
They led the group through a COMET
presentation which had been revised to
specifically address Local 891. The focus
of the presentation was to identify the
growing non-union low budget sector in
BC which has expanded to close to 100
productions a year. The COMET presentation
was subsequently presented to the
Executive Committee of the Local which
is comprised of representatives from each
of the fourteen categories it represents.
Vice President Lewis was pleased to
report that on April 15, 2019, Local 891
wrote to President Loeb confirming their
decision to commit the necessary resources
to organize this sector of the industry.
This is a large undertaking, but Vice President
Lewis is confident the Local, with
the support of the International is up to
the challenge.
LetterKenny
The Canadian Motion Picture and
Television Department had previously reported
that “LetterKenny” is a Canadian
television production being produced in
Northern Ontario. In its first year in production
it signed a three-year term agreement
with NABET. In the last two seasons,
the vast majority of the crew were
members of Local 634. Working under a
NABET agreement meant they were required
to pay permit fees and did not receive
health or retirement contributions.
The members of Local 634 wanted to be
represented by the IA. The Local waited
for the open period and filed to certify the
fourth season of “LetterKenny”. Of the
thirty-four members who voted, thirtytwo
were members of Local 634 and 2
were members of NABET.
Settlement discussions took place
over a number of months, but no progress
was made. Finally, on the evening
of the Department’s return from staff
training, Representative DaPrato and
Vice President Lewis, along with Counsel
Ernie Schirru were able to negotiate a settlement.
The current season will remain
NABET, but IATSE members will continue
to work the production and not lose
the seven per cent for permit fees charged
by NABET nor will they lose their health
and retirement contributions. Season 6
(which has already been greenlit), will be
under an agreement with Local 634 and
there will be a vote to determine which
union agreement applies for season 7.
Vice President Lewis expressed confidence
in the results of that vote.
The International is working with
Local 634 to organize an emerging production
centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada’s
capital. Last year saw the announcement
of the building of a purpose-built
sound stage and the expansion of a film
commission office.
Netflix litigation
In June 2018, Netflix began shooting
the feature film, “Murder Mystery”, which
has a budget in excess of $35 million.
Under the terms of the Quebec legislation,
this production clearly fell under the juris-
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