Commercials talks break down

Members working on commercials will be sticking to the rules after talks on a new agreement collapsed.

BECTU has advised all members who work on television and film commercials for employers in the Advertising Film and Video Producers Association (AFVPA) to refuse any contracts which are not strictly in accordance with the current national agreement laying out terms and conditions for the sector.

The move came after talks on a new three-year agreement ground to a halt when the management side unexpectedly tabled new wide-reaching demands for changes in the agreement only days before a final deal was due to be struck in late June.

Among the last-minute demands by from the AFVPA were an extra two hours on the basic working day, scrapping of overtime payments for working on Saturdays, and reduced pay for night shoots.

A unanimous rejection of these demands led to members insisting that their 11-hour breaks between turns of duty - a statutory requirement under the European Working Time Directive - should not be infringed.

Talks between unions and employers continued while members stuck to the 11-hour rule, and the proposal for the longer basic day was withdrawn by the AFVPA who suggested that a 5% increase in pay rates would be offered if most of the other changes were accepted.

Despite this "sweetener", members in the sector again rejected the package of change, and talks broke down at a meeting on 22 October. Since then, the unions have raised the heat by issuing advice for members to stick rigidly to the terms of the current agreement, while continuing to take their 11-hour breaks.

Both BECTU and the AEEU electricians union have condemned the attitude of the Institute for Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), and a number of companies belonging to the AFVPA, who are believed to be putting pressure on their negotiators to savage the current agreement for pay and conditions on commercials.