Following a one-day strike on July 11, the Syndicat des Employeeé-es de l’événementiel-CSN (Syndicat des Employeeé-es de l’événementiel-CSN), the union representing about 60 Fantasia Film Festival staff, reached a tentative agreement late Friday to Avoid further workforce disruption.
The union has not disclosed details of the deal in principle ahead of a vote by union workers on the deal early next week. The formal approval will clear the way for the 24th Fantasia Film Festival to open in Montreal on July 18 as planned.
“We are proud of the commitment and determination of our members during the negotiation process. Employers responded to our mobilization and showed an open mind to our last negotiation proposal. We welcome the opportunity to address members at the upcoming General Assembly Presenting the tentative agreement,” Théa Trudeau-Tremblay, spokesperson for the CSN employees union, said in a statement on Saturday.
A representative from Fantasia confirmed hollywood reporter A tentative agreement was reached around 10pm on Friday night. Fantasia Festival organizers had no further comment in principle on the new labor deal ahead of a vote by unionized workers on the deal.
The Fantasia union, allied with the Syndicat des Employeeé-es de l’événementiel-CSN, signed its first collective agreement in September 2023, after the 2023 festival. But recent efforts to establish a minimum wage for Fantasia’s unionized staff at the bargaining table have been stalled by the genre festival’s desire to continue paying freelancers, who will receive a lump sum for work on the 2024 edition of Fantasia, regardless of how many hours they work.
The union insists Fantasia wants changes to staff’s short-term seasonal contracts that will only apply to next year’s 2025 edition. But key talks apparently made enough progress to reach an agreement in principle after the Fantasia union and its management resumed talks on Friday following a strike a day earlier.
North America’s largest genre music festival kicks off July 18 with world premiere of Elijah Wood’s work bookworm and subsequent international premieres count of monte cristo. The 24th exhibition will be held in Montreal on August 4th.
