ACTRA National – February 2011 – Standing Tall Down Under

February 2011

Standing Tall Down Under
High Stakes Poker

Who’s with us? Who’s against us? The lines are drawn.

When the actors’ unions of the world moved to support New Zealand Actors’ Equity (NZAE) in their righteous fight for establishing a first collective agreement on the film, The Hobbit, there was a thrill that rippled around the world. SAG, AFTRA, ACTRA, Equity UK, MEAA, CAEA, UDA and all the performers unions of the International Federation of Actors (FIA) had never made such a seamless show of global solidarity in the face of non-union production. We were clear in our objective, we were united and the battleground was an important one – getting fair wages
and working conditions for all performers contracted on a huge budget feature film by a major U.S. studio shooting on location in New Zealand.

The acrimony that ensued was fuelled by powerful Hollywood studio players, the actions of the centre-right New Zealand government, the anti-union stance articulated by director Sir Peter Jackson and the lack of solidarity from other production personnel working in the jurisdiction in New Zealand. The flames of discord were fanned into a full-fledged media firestorm.

A colleague from B.C. emailed me as I was writing this story, worried that the rescinding of the do-not-work order on The Hobbit in late October had signalled that the international community had thrown in the towel. That was not the case. It was given at the request of NZAE whose leadership had been the subject of death threats as pressure escalated. They had also been mercilessly cornered by their own national government. They had solidarity around the world, but none at home.

As this story is destined to become part of union versus production mythology, I thought it warranted a second look in the bright light of a winter’s day. And I make no bones about it – this is my personal understanding of the events from a union perspective.

Let’s walk through the steps that the union Down Under took:

1. Over the course of the summer, the union (working through MEAA in Australia) quietly pressed for a discussion directly with Warner
Bros. on improving pay and working conditions for The Hobbit;

2. No discussion occurred over a period of months;

3. In late August FIA publicly supported the union in its initiative to have improved pay and working conditions for all workers on the film. A coordinated global boycott by all members of FIA was the tactic used to get producers to the table.

Then more players got involved – large demonstrations and rallies of NZ industry workers who opposed the union’s actions attracted thousands. The smaller membership of NZAE was forced to cancel planned face-to-face meetings due to unruly counterdemonstrations. The majority of industry workers in NZ wanted the film to stay, no matter what the terms. The union had little political support within New Zealand. When the centre-right government weighed in against them, the Labour Party was silent. Warner Bros. flexed their muscle and threatened to pull production and relocate. This is a common enough scare tactic utilized by production, but one that always threatens to divide and conquer union solidarity. (As we at ACTRA know well, solidarity is paramount when you need to make any substantial gains at the bargaining table. United we stand; divided we beg.) The record will show that a high-profile Canadian example of U.S. studios threatening to withdraw production when unions dare to resist their demands was the infamous Daredevil case in Montreal in 2001. Remember the furor when Fox tussled with ACTRA over the Ben Affleck picture that was said to be leaving Montreal because of ACTRA’s stance? The reality was that the film was always meant to and did in fact shoot in L.A. Daredevil and The Hobbit both demonstrate the ability of studios to manipulate media, unions, industry and governments to get exactly what they want.

Threatening to leave the country is a big card to play, no question. In the Daredevil case, there was precious little chance that they were ever serious about shooting in Montreal. But it managed to drive a wedge and divide the membership. As performers, we all want every work opportunity we can get. But at what price? Where is the line in the sand?

The line in the sand had been drawn by NZEA. They wanted to improve performers’ terms and conditions in the screen industry. They had first tried several avenues, including a direct approach to the Screen Producers’ and Development Association (SPADA) to negotiate a standard industry agreement for production in New Zealand; sought to negotiate directly on individual projects with production companies; and, ultimately, harnessed relationships with international fellow unions to elevate conditions for all New Zealand performers.

“Experience showed that the existing guidelines for the engagement of performers in the screen industry (‘The Pink Book’) are rarely complied with in their entirety, and performers have been unable to insist on such compliance. Individual approaches to productions have also been problematic, and can only work when performers on the production have sufficient leverage. Our attempts to date have met with fierce resistance from production companies and made the legitimate desire of performers to negotiate together a high-risk strategy.” – www.actorsequity.org.nz

I happened to be in Los Angeles on September 27, observing the first day of joint SAG/AFTRA negotiations on the Exhibit A/TV/Theatrical contracts. It was an important day for the U.S. unions as the presidents, SAG President Ken Howard and AFTRA President Roberta Reardon, steered a calm, unflappable course together to improve pay and working conditions for their respective memberships. The big news was that the two unions were back at the table – together.

Arriving at that AMPTP offices that morning when the mercury bubbled at 113 degrees Fahrenheit, I was greeted with a dark story: director Peter Jackson had come out swinging on the front pages of the L.A. trade papers. He had zero empathy for the unions’ position on The Hobbit. We all understood that he was exceedingly popular in New Zealand, but it was of more than passing interest that he grabbed all the front pages in L.A. (a decidedly union town) with such a virulent attack on unions. Coincidentally (or not) on the opening day of negotiations.

The heat was turned up. Production challenged the mandate of NZ Actors’ Equity, threatened the security of jobs in NZ and suggested the union was acting unlawfully.

When the dust settled, Warner Bros. got exactly what they wanted – and even better. They would keep production in New Zealand and in exchange secured an extra $25 million in production incentives from the island nation on top of tens of millions of dollars the project already qualified for. Plus, passage of anti-union legislation was “apparently negotiated directly between the government and key Warners executives….” According to the November 8, 2010 issue of the Hollywood Reporter: “In the end, the entire fracas resounded to the benefit of the government and Warner Bros. Under an ‘urgency’ procedure, the legislature passed in a single day laws that put all Kiwi film (and videogame) workers effectively beyond the reach of the unions. That conforms to the ruling National Party’s political agenda. Government ministers at various times acknowledged that the legislation was being introduced and fast-tracked at the behest of the studio, and at other times denied this, but without explaining in that case why urgency was required.”

There are many lessons to be learned from the whole Hobbit affair, no question. In retrospect, different cards perhaps could have been played at different times, but the intent of the international action was entirely honourable. I salute the tenacious leadership of NZEA, especially President JenniferWard-Lealand. She went to bat for her membership to ensure good and fair working conditions for all of them, not just some of them. And that was the right thing to do, in my books.

We don’t win every battle, but it doesn’t stop us from fighting the good fight – no matter how powerful and intimidating the opponent. A number of substantial victories came to fruition and the members of FIA bear witness to this fact – improved conditions for workers on The Hobbit including residuals for all performers, a promise of adherence to ‘The Pink Book‘ (the existing guidelines for New Zealand production), and a pledge to negotiate new standard terms with SPADA and, importantly, the first global solidarity campaign among performers’ unions. Wherever international production goes to evade the pay and good working conditions of union contracts, unions will follow and continue to push for higher standards. U.S. studios may be determined to limit union influence in the global arena, but we unions are equally galvanized to succeed.

In solidarity there is strength.
Ferne Downey
ACTRA National President

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