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Hello ACTRAvists:
 
This Friday ACTRA members will rally in solidarity in support of striking SAG-AFTRA and WGA members, on day 486 of the shameful lockout of ACTRA performers by the ICA.
 
Please join us at one of two rallies in either Toronto or Vancouver.
 
“ACTRA stands in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA and the WGA. The issues they are fighting are our issues. Advertising Agencies, studios and streamers need to stop their corporate greed, making huge profits at the expense of our livelihoods,” said Eleanor Noble, ACTRA National President. “Enough is enough! It’s time to get back to the table and make a fair and respectful deal with us.”
 
SAG-AFTRA National Vice President, Los Angeles, Michelle Hurd will join Noble and many other ACTRA Members and sibling unions in downtown Toronto as ACTRA exposes advertising agencies, studios, and streamers for their corporate greed.
 
TORONTO RALLY
WHEN:              10 am ET Friday August 25, 2023
WHERE:            Amazon and Apple Headquarters: 120 Bremner Blvd, Toronto, ON
 
VANCOUVER RALLY
WHEN:              11 am PT Friday August 25, 2023
WHERE:            Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC
 
For those who can’t make it you can watch the Toronto rally live on ACTRA National’s Facebook Page and the Vancouver rally will be streamed live on UBCP/ACTRA’s Instagram page. Please like comment and share these live videos to show your solidarity.
 
Please note, like other unions, ACTRA does not post locations of these kinds of actions or pickets too far in advance on social media to avoid giving studios, agencies or employers lead time to book extra security or impede our efforts.
 
Also, ACTRA is supporting the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting and unions that represent media workers in their fight with Meta for blocking all Canadian News Content. Starting at midnight we will not post like or share any content on Facebook or Instagram for 48 hours and we encourage members to consider doing the same. Learn more here: https://act.friends.ca/page/133505/action/1

At ACTRA, bargaining is all about strategy and leveraging our collective power to always get the best possible deal for members. Solidarity is the key to our power and plays a huge role in helping us succeed.

After last’s weeks ratification of the NCA renewal, the bargaining team is focused on preparations for upcoming bargaining with the ICA and ACA to get a fair deal to bring back to the membership. Until that happens, we ask that you continue engaging and stand in solidarity with your bargaining team.

This is an important time in the life of the union, and we are committed to keeping ACTRA membership informed as we move forward collectively. On July 11-14 we will go into another customary blackout while at the bargaining table. This blackout covers negotiations only and does not hamper us from continuing to share information on the fight to end the lockout, the boycott of union busting brands and other work of the union. While we negotiate, it is important to keep the pressure on the ICA and advertising agencies that continue to lock out ACTRA performers. When these four dates are finished we will report back to ACTRA members.

“In my experience, a communication blackout is not only customary but essential to facilitating blunt and productive conversations that can actually expedite the process of getting to an agreement, particularly on contentious issues,” said Marie Kelly, ACTRA National Executive Director.

“During negotiations, sharing our strategy, proposals, pressure points and tactics would put our members at a significant disadvantage at the bargaining table,” added Kelly, who serves as ACTRA’s lead negotiator.

Our lead negotiator is not alone in her views. It is the cornerstone of almost every set of negotiations in North America and widely viewed as a key element of labour negotiations.

“The parties need to have a mutual understanding about the confidentiality of discussions at the bargaining table,” wrote John Sanderson and William Cole in “The Art of Collective Bargaining,”

In their textbook they explain that when confidentiality is breached during negotiations, employers “will hesitate to engage in open and frank conversations. Negotiation leaks will have a chilling effect on the negotiation process and will make future progress and agreement much more difficult.”

In Vancouver this week, members of a newly established UBCP/ACTRA organizing committee launched an in-person outreach campaign to non-union performers. On Tuesday, they were on the ground training member organizers who are speaking to non-union performers at callbacks and networking events hosted by UBCP/ACTRA. Over the next few weeks, they will continue this work to talk to non-members about collective power, and what our union can do for them.

Let’s keep engaged and committed to ending this unprecedented and unnecessary lockout of ACTRA members!