Labor Peace Restored to Canadian Film Industry as Directors Guild Branch Approves Contract –

Members of the BC Directors Guild of Canada voted to ratify an interim agreement with the Film and Television Producers Alliance and its Canadian counterpart, the Canadian Association of BC Media Producers.

After five days of voting, 89.5% voted in favor of the new agreement, while 64% voted in favor. The ratification concludes a work campaign in and around Vancouver that began after DGC BC issued an official strike notice on April 26 to AMPTP and CMPA.

That action called for strikes and picketing against any production not covered by the Safe Harbor Agreement, which is part of the BC Labor Act. Most film and television productions in the Canadian province have signed safe harbor agreements and are therefore protected from any potential labor action as of April 26.

At the start of the labor standoff, AMPTP and CMPA warned that US producers could move films and TV series out of Vancouver after the DGC branch in British Columbia staged an official strike ahead of the strike vote.

The union welcomed the new collective agreement. “Today is an important day. “It has been a long and difficult process, but thanks to a lot of effort, we have an agreement that we can be proud of,” Alan Harmon, president of DGC BC, said in a statement.

Ratification comes after fifteen months of negotiations and after a guaranteed wage increase of 3% per year, retroactive to July 11, 2021, and an increase in the minimum wage for low-income workers. Fine dining is also enforced to ensure DGC BC’s North American manufacturers eat at convenient times and local or mandatory transportation for crew members who work 14 hours or more and are too tired to drive home.