EXCLUSIVE: After practically three months, the Writers Guild of Canada has returned to the negotiating desk with Canadian producers this week — this time with an unprecedented little bit of energy of their fingers.
Final week, Canadian scribes authorized the primary strike-authorization vote within the union’s historical past after practically six months of talks aimed toward renewing the prevailing Unbiased Manufacturing Settlement with the Canadian Media Producers Affiliation.
“We’ve by no means been in a scenario the place we’ve even needed to name for a strike,” a Canadian author advised Deadline. “That’s an American phenomenon. We’re used to adversity, however the concept we had to do that is fairly troubling for a lot of the membership.”
Whereas their U.S. counterparts are nonetheless recovering from final yr’s work stoppages, Canadian writers and producers at the moment are confronted with a tough turning level in their very own contract negotiations.
Fears of a possible strike have been rising since talks broke down on the finish of final yr when producers and writers struggled to succeed in compromise on main monetary and work-related points. The hope on each side is that there’s nonetheless a path towards a deal, however neither celebration is sort of certain learn how to deal with the specter of looming picket traces.
“Given the dearth of progress on the desk, we do really feel pissed off,” one Canadian author and showrunner stated, including that they hope the 96.5% approval for the strike authorization “reveals a dedication to face agency in our dedication to reaching a good deal for screenwriters.”
Ought to the WGC name a strike, these picket traces received’t pop up instantly. As an alternative, the union would want to tell the Canadian federal authorities, and the labor motion would start 15 days later.
The strike authorization, authorized by the best turnout in WGC historical past with 70.2% of eligible voters concerned, has actually rocked an already unsure Canadian manufacturing trade. The answer nonetheless appears comparatively unclear, however each writers and producers are nonetheless crossing their fingers that there’s a deal to be made.
“I do assume that CMPA should have regarded on the outcomes and realized the writers are critical and acted in unison,” the author stated. “I’m undecided they realized that earlier than. This reveals them we’re keen to take motion in the event that they received’t come again to the desk and negotiate in good religion.”
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The earlier IPA ended on December 31, 2023, however was prolonged within the interim in hope of a brand new deal being struck. In December, the events agreed to a conciliator and have been negotiating by means of mediation since in an try and “carry down emotional temperature,” one other supply tells Deadline.
Deadline understands that, previous to this week, the WGC and CMPA had not returned to the desk because the writers offered their most up-to-date counterproposal in February.
“Persons are hoping there isn’t a strike. They perceive that strikes are very dramatic and other people can get adversely affected, [including] crafts companies and associated industries who’ve large hardship imposed on them. Writers specifically are very delicate to that and received’t have authorized the strike flippantly,” a U.S.-based producer who works on Canadian co-productions advised Deadline.
A number of the points Canadian writers are going through are related to those who their U.S. counterparts confronted final yr, together with minimal staffing necessities for writers rooms and will increase in compensation to regulate for shorter contracts.
Others are utterly totally different. For instance, residuals usually are not a consider these talks, as a result of in contrast to the AMPTP, the CMPA doesn’t characterize Canada’s networks and streamers. As an alternative, the CMPA negotiates on behalf of indie producers, which drive a lot of the native content material creation within the nation.
Writers in Canada consider animation is especially susceptible presently, as it’s thought-about “simple to focus on” with altering applied sciences, together with AI. Along with AI protections aimed toward preserving the medium, the WGC can also be demanding animation writers obtain script-fee parity with live-action writers.
Whereas they haven’t endured a strike of their very own simply but, Canadian manufacturing staff did expertise some “chilling results” from final yr’s Hollywood labor motion, one supply defined.
As Canada has change into a scorching spot for U.S. productions from Vancouver to Toronto, Montreal and extra, the so-called Sizzling Labor Summer season that noticed virtually 175,000 WGA and SAG-AFTRA members take to the streets throughout the nation compelled runaway productions north of the border to close down, too.
Final yr, the WGC — which represents 2,500 skilled English-language Canadian screenwriters — threw its assist behind U.S. writers in the course of the Writers Guild of America’s historic 148-day strike, asking its personal members to not settle for any work that fell underneath WGA jurisdiction.
In an effort to tell apart its particular considerations, the Canadian union had additionally known as consideration to the struggles of its personal screenwriters, significantly concerning compensation. In a July report, the guild revealed that in the course of the previous 5 years, the mixture earnings of its Canadian citizen members have declined by practically 22% when adjusted for inflation.
Synthetic intelligence, alternatively, is a little bit of newer territory for Canadian writers and producers. Deadline hears that neither celebration entered negotiations in October significantly fearful in regards to the expertise, however considerations have grown on each side over the previous few months because the tech has quickly proliferated throughout all features of the worldwide media trade.
“Everyone seems to be afraid of AI on a sure degree,” the U.S.-based producer advised Deadline. “Everybody needs to protect their approach of constructing a dwelling within the face of maximum change. All of these issues are taking place without delay, which implies individuals get afraid of how they’re making their dwelling going ahead. Concern is a really human emotion.”
Hollywood has been ablaze with discussions of AI after it turned the new matter in the course of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. It was a key sticking level in each unions’ negotiations with the U.S.-based studios, and it continues to rear its head in ongoing talks between these studios and the below-the-line staff who started bargaining in March.
Nonetheless, whereas U.S. labor unions zeroed in on AI, one author supply tells Deadline that these discussions “didn’t register for Canadian writers” on the time.
“We don’t need our work product for use by producers to coach AI, and we wish guidelines and rules in place to restrict AI use and maintain writers working within the early growth stage,” one other supply with data of negotiations tells Deadline, explaining that, to date, each events are unable to search out “frequent floor” on that demand.
In that context, the supply on the desk from the CMPA is “substantively in keeping with the WGA deal,” we hear. Nonetheless, that U.S. deal doesn’t embody an outright prohibition on utilizing writers’ supplies to coach AI techniques.
Since final week’s strike-authorization vote, Deadline hears that negotiations have restarted however are “going gradual.” It’s unclear what progress, if any, has been made on the remaining points.
Added the U.S.-based producer: “A shutdown of manufacturing is nice for nobody. You could have fears for manufacturing that you simply’ve labored on for years. If it blows up due to a strike, you might not be capable of put it again collectively. Producers are equally nervous about their livelihoods being endangered.”
For the reason that WGC’s present contract has already expired, there isn’t any deadline for negotiations to wrap earlier than a strike would happen. As an alternative, it is going to be as much as the writers to determine when and whether or not to stroll away from the desk.
