Striking but remaining on the job with a wage increase

Canada’s television and movie actors are hitting the bricks, but thanks to an interesting little bit of paperwork called the continuity letter, a good number of the union members will be reporting to work and getting a 7 % wage increase for their troubles.

It’s a bit strange, but there it is as ACTRA heads for the picket lines, with 21,000 potential line walkers in the membership. Negotiations which had been ongoing over the last week, broke down on Sunday night, and the membership provided their leaders with 97 percent vote in favour of job action, setting the scene for Monday’s labour dispute, but it won’t be a solid shut down of an industry.

With those continuation letters in effect, production will roll on with some 34 projects currently on the go in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The threat of labour problems had already scared off a number of potential projects planned for Canada from last year and the labour problems could eventually see a number of Canadians programs shut down or look for an alternative.

The Canadian television industry isn’t quite the monster of entertainment that the US is which makes the call to the picket lines a rather risky venture. While there are some very solid Canadian shows now on television, the television viewer is a fickle animal.

While they may be loyal, they can be moved. And should their favourite show suddenly disappear from the screens, there are more than enough alternatives out there to fill the viewing void.

However, with the continuation letters apparently quite plentiful, there’s a very good chance that Canadians may not even notice the dispute, then again they may not have even noticed the programs either!