BARGAINING UPDATE: January 20, 2022

Over the past year your Negotiating Committee – made up of members from every caucus –  Directors, Production Managers, Assistant Directors, Locations, and Production Assistants - have been working hard to bargain a new Collective Agreement for our Members, along with staff, legal counsel, and the Executive Board.

Our focus in bargaining has been on Respect, Fairness and Safety for everyone working under the DGC BC contract:

Respect: It is clear that the people who take care of this industry are not being taken care of, and you deserve to be treated better.

Fairness: Fair treatment and compensation for the work you do, especially compared to other contracts in the industry.

Safety: Ensuring your safety given the long hours you work every day.

When we went to the table in March of last year, we were clear that we were not there to engage in concessionary bargaining – where the Employers seek to take away previously negotiated rights. Nonetheless, the AMPTP and the CMPA tabled a package attempting to claw back what you already have, including basic health benefits during a global pandemic. Throughout bargaining they have been pushing that agenda, adding new concessionary demands and looking to make unacceptable changes to your working conditions. These tactics made it impossible to achieve a reasonable deal.

The proposals we tabled were based on increasing safety and fairness. The Employers have been unwilling to address these legitimate employee concerns, in fact telling us many of our proposals were simply not possible. Then we watched them turn around and grant employee gains based on those same issues in other jurisdictions, particularly with IATSE in the US.

Despite over ten months of bargaining, examples of unresolved issues include:

Retroactivity on wage increases: The Employers are refusing to pay wage increases retroactively. You haven’t received a raise since April 2020. Despite the Employers dragging out bargaining, they are unwilling to pay wage increases back to April 2021, when our contract expired. Without retroactivity, every day they drag out bargaining takes money out of your pocket.

COVID proposals: Last May, the Employers unilaterally implemented their COVID proposal, which included stipend payments so they could pay you less for COVID testing.While we are prepared to bargain reasonable stipends, when they couldn’t immediately get what they demanded at the bargaining table they just did what they wanted anyway.

This has been a long and onerous process, with no end in sight. The Employers’ approach has been dismissive and frankly, disrespectful. The DGC deserves to be treated better. You deserve to be treated better.

There may come a time when we must call on the Membership to show the Employers that we stand united for a fair and equitable contract. In the meantime, we remain hopeful that a deal can be reached. #DGCStrong

In Solidarity,

The DGC BC Negotiating Team