TV Drama Town Hall Meeting
Following the ‘Town Hall’ meeting we had on Monday night, where a lively discussion was had about the future of working conditions for those in TV drama, the concerns and issues of the members of our branch are becoming clearer.
As you may know, BECTU served notice on the agreement we have with PACT on terms and conditions for those working in TV drama. Negotiations with PACT are continuing to see if a breakthrough can be made and an updated agreement issued. However if in September the agreement ceases to be, individuals are going to have to negotiate their own terms again, as was the case pre-2017.
To help with this, all branches are currently working behind the scenes to draw up a unified set of terms which all workers can use in negotiations. The idea being that if the contract or deal memo a prospective employer presents them with doesn’t meet these terms, they can refuse safe in the knowledge that other crew in other departments are doing the same.
These terms can’t be pie-in-the-sky, they’ve got to be achievable, they’ve got to be realistic so that when the agreement no longer applies, individuals can ask for these terms and have some expectation of success.
So this begs the question; ‘What Would An Ideal TV Drama Contract Look Like?’ What changes to your T&Cs would give the biggest improvement to your quality of life?
Improvements
If we take as a starting point the existing PACT / BECTU agreement, what tweaks could we make to best protect workers in TV drama post-production?
We’ve been collecting suggestions from members over the last few years for improvements to the agreement, which were added to at Monday’s meeting, which I will detail below. However the point of this article is WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VOICE. We want to know what you want fixed. What irks you most about your working life at present?
Following is a list of post-production-specific gripes which we could address:
Hours
There’s a campaign going on to highlight the fact that ‘workshop’ crew (the collective term for non-shooting crew) are always ‘on’, unlike the majority of their counterparts on set. Even a 10 hour SWD is huge for someone who is working constantly throughout the day. We believe that office-based crew should always have contracts which reflect this and are at least an hour less than shooting crew. Whether this is achievable or enforceable at this point is difficult to say and it may be we continue to campaign on this.
3rd-Party Hirings
Currently workers hired through a 3rd party (e.g. sound editors assigned to the production by a facility) are hired on terms which do not reflect those in the agreement. Often their terms are unspecified (no deal memo or contract is issued, in contravention of current UK law). If the agreement ceases to be, then this levels the playing field as all workers will have to negotiate their terms. However, if the agreement is updated, we HAVE to ensure there is a clause within in specifying that producers seek to work with 3rd party companies who honour the terms of the agreement.
Hiatuses
Workers in post are often asked to take a number of weeks off, picture editorial to wait for VFX to be completed or sound editors asked to stand down as the picture schedule extends. This is often at short notice and without compensation. This has to change. Please comment below stating what percentage of your weekly rate this compensation should be. 50% has been mooted.
Unsociable Hours
The new terms being written do include provision for graduated payments for later and later working hours. We will make sure our members’ wishes in this regard are included. Again, please comment below what you think the rules should be.
Continuous Working Days in Post
Very often editorial are expected not to take lunch breaks. Effectively this should mean overtime kicks in after 10 hours at present (shorter hours may soon apply). However claims for overtime are being rejected until workers have done more than 12 hours. This needs clarifying.
Cancellation Terms
Sound editors especially sometimes find themselves in a position whereby they are booked for a number of weeks’ work and it is cancelled at short notice, with no compensation. This needs to change. Please leave your comment below stating what you think the form of any compensation should take.
6-day weeks
Clause 6.4 of the agreement makes provision for a cap on the number of 11-day fortnights which may be scheduled for a shoot. No such provision exists for post-production.
Minimum hours on 6th or 7th day
The major motion picture (MMP) agreement makes provision for the minimum number of hours a worker should be compensated for when being called in on a 6th day (clause 4.1 (a)). This should be incorporated into the TV agreement and set at 8 hours. Same goes for the 7th day.
8th-or-more Days
Clause 6.9.2 states that a worker shall be paid 2T for any 7th days. However if the worker is required to keep going until the following weekend, they will be paid 1T for the 8th consecutive and any following days. This makes no sense. The worker should receive 2T until they get a day off.
Dailies
If a worker is required to work only part of a week, the rate should have an uplift. Currently if jobs overrun, workers may be asked to do odd days here and there. These days should be paid at a premium.
Pensions
Currently productions pay the government-mandated minimum contributions to their workers’ pension. Do we think there is scope to improve this? Comment below.
Is there anything else?
Please fill out our questionnaire for us to take into the negotiations and to take to the other branches to get incorporated into the new terms. Thanks!
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