A threat of strike by Fantasia festival employees looms over the 28e edition of the cinematic event, which is due to open in three weeks. The workers, affiliated to a union created in the wake of the pandemic, now refuse to work under conditions “which do not even allow them to live”. Some Fantasia workers are paid a flat rate that they estimate is equivalent to $5 an hour.
Depending on what The duty has learned, the festival’s union members voted unanimously on Tuesday evening for a five-day strike to be carried out at the appropriate time. The international film festival is scheduled to take place from July 18 to August 4, 2024.
The president of the Union of Event Employees, affiliated with the CSN, Geneviève Hutter, affirms that the workers want the festival to be held without any disruption, but “not to the detriment of the employees”. A change is needed to put an end to the precariousness that reigns at Fantasia, according to her. “The current conditions do not even allow us to live. People give of themselves without counting because they love it, but vocation doesn’t pay the mortgage. The festival continues because the employees accept these conditions, but we can no longer accept them. »
The Syndicat des employées de l’événementiel emerged in the midst of a crisis in the cultural industries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Festivals were hit hard by the lockdowns decreed starting in the spring of 2020. The explosion in the cost of living in recent years has also hurt the cultural sector. Festival workers, many of whom are freelancers and contract workers, decided to unite to put an end to the widespread precariousness in their sector.
“Workers have always financed festivals by not demanding better conditions. In many cases, it becomes ridiculous,” argues Annick Charette, president of the National Federation of Communications and Culture (FNCC-CSN).
She emphasizes that the “culture of volunteering” is firmly established in festivals. The Événements Attractions Québec organization estimates that it has 36,000 volunteers, or 85% of the events workforce. It’s good to have volunteers who are passionate about culture, but workers deserve a decent salary, says the president of the FNCC.
Generalized precariousness
In addition to Fantasia, the Event Employees Union brings together workers from two other festivals, which have already signed their first collective agreements. These are employees of the Fondation Québec Cinéma and the Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC).
These employment contracts reduced precariousness by providing in particular for payment for a number of hours worked, and by regulating the recall of employees from one year to the next, according to the union. A significant portion of festival workers can be found at several events. They return each year in each of the festivals, which follow one another according to a schedule established in advance.
At the Fantasia festival, the sixty workers were traditionally paid a fixed lump sum, regardless of the number of hours worked. Negotiations at Fantasia aim to establish an hourly wage and a number of paid hours for each of the positions which, within the meaning of the law, are no longer occupied by contract workers, but by employees.
For example, production assistants earn $2,000 for the entire duration of the Fantasia festival. Their tenure begins before and ends after the festival, so they earn about $5 an hour, according to the union.
The union is demanding hourly wages between $19 and $27, depending on the types of positions. For its part, management offers between $16 and $22. The minimum wage is $15.75 in Quebec.
Fragile finances
Fantasia Festival CEO Pierre Corbeil says he is “confident” that both parties will make “significant progress” at the next negotiation meeting, scheduled for July 9 — nine days before the festival opens. “We’re not questioning the need for change. We have no choice,” he says. “We want to be as generous as possible with the resources we have. We understand that everyone has to live and pay their rent.”
Festival finances have been precarious since the end of the pandemic, underlines Pierre Corbeil. Governments invested massively to support cultural industries during the two years of confinement, but this assistance ended in the last year.
The Fantasia festival recorded a deficit of $60,000 in 2022 and $216,000 in 2023. Grants represent approximately 35% of the event’s revenue. Fantasia’s accumulated surplus is only about $100,000, according to its director.
The union certification unit included 65 members when it was created last September, according to the union. Management believes that some of these workers should remain subcontractors.