Commercials ballot deadline

The ballot on proposed changes to the Commercials Agreement closes on 26 July 2002.

If freelance BECTU members in the commercials sector vote to reject the proposals there will be no pay and conditions agreement with the Advertising Producers Association (APA) from 1 August 2002.

In these circumstances the union will issue recommendations on pay and conditions to members in the sector.

The ballot takes place in the context of a steady trend for UK-based commercials to be shot abroad, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, and South Africa.

The APA's answer to this problem is to seek to increase crew hours and cut rates.

BECTU believes runaway production has many causes, including access to locations, star preferences, exchange rates, competitive pressures between the APA's own member companies, and - crucially - the wider downturn in the advertising industry.

The union has invited the APA to discuss this wider context, with an emphasis on training and skills so that the UK can compete on quality, but the APA has refused.