Ontario Ministry of Labour casting call seeks ‘non-union’ actors

Today is the deadline for actors interested in providing voice talent for the Ministry of Labour to submit demo tapes to a casting company working for the government.

The catch is that “only Canadian, non-union performers” will be considered.

That’s according to the casting call notice posted on an audition website by the firm Kim Hurdon Casting on behalf of the Ministry of Labour, a copy of which was obtained by Queen’s Park Today.

The notice asks actors with home recording studios to send tapes of their voices so the casting company can determine whether their setups are of professional broadcast quality.

It repeatedly makes it clear that actors who are members of unions, such as the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), are not welcome to apply.

The header of the notice reads “Government Of Ontario Ministry of Labour (non-union) – Seeking self-tapes.”

This seemingly flies in the face of assurances that Labour Minister David Piccini gave ACTRA after provincial agencies such as Metrolinx, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and Destination Ontario were found to be using non-union performers for their commercials during the years-long labour conflict between the actors’ union and the Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA).

During question period on May 13, Piccini told the house that he “recognized” that ads commissioned by the government and its agencies “are having an impact” on the labour dispute.

“That’s why I am going to be calling all three agencies following question period,” he promised the house and ACTRA members who were in the public galleries at the time. “I also recognize the perception here with these three agencies,” he said.

Piccini’s office did not respond to questions on why his ministry is now seeking non-union actors and about the outcome of his discussions with the provincial agencies.

In a post on social media, the director of communications for Piccini’s office said the ministry “did not issue this casing call.”

“This was posting by a casting agency without the government’s awareness or approval.”

In a statement Thursday, the NDP called the casting call a “slap in the face” to unionized performers, and also called on Piccini to rescind the “scab job posting.”

“This is an incredible betray of trust,” said NDP Labour critic Jamie West.

“ACTRA workers came to Queen’s Park, brought their concerns about a two-year long lockout that is threatening their livelihoods. They even spoke to the minister of labour who made commitments during question period to make calls to resolve the issue – and now, they are simply making the problem worse. These workers deserve better than a government that pretends to listen while going behind their backs with scab job postings.”

Ontario Labour Federation (OFL) president Laura Walton said the casting call is a bad look for a minister who seemingly promised to rein in the use of non-union actors in government advertising, only for his own ministry to engage in the same behaviour.

“It’s one thing to say, ‘Oh well, these are [separate] bodies, but I am going to reach out.’ But this is his own office looking to use non-unionized workers in the face of a two-year strike,” said Walton.

“The optics and the reality of this are not good. You can’t claim to be the government that is working for workers and continue to work against them every step of the way.”

Walton said she is willing to believe there was a lack of “clear communication from the minister’s office to the ministry staff about the use of non-unionized labour.” But, if so, Piccini should rescind the casting call and have it reissued to allow unionized actors to submit tapes.

“I think that simple fix would go a long way to reassuring ACTRA that he has heard them, and he understands their plight, but also that he is acting on it to actively ensure that all work coming out of taxpayers’ money is going to unionized workers,” said Walton.

The day after Piccini made his assurances to the house, the OFL, ACTRA and several other labour organizations sent the minister a letter requesting he direct the government to “immediately” stop using advertising agencies accused of locking out unionized performers and amend the Employment Standards Act to “make it clear that performers … have the same protections, rights and recourse as other Ontario workers.”

Walton said Piccini’s office did not send a reply to the letter.

“Perhaps he never reached out to [the provincial agencies], in the same way he never answered our letter,” she suggested.

ACTRA says its members have been blocked from working on commercials since the ICA, which represents ad agencies, locked the union out in April 2022, a response to ACTRA greenlighting a strike.

During the strike, some major advertisers, including provincial agencies, have continued to make commercials with ICA agencies, meaning union actors could not audition.

The ICA contends the situation does not amount to a “lockout” because the union is also directing actors not to work with its member agencies.

The two sides were fighting it out over the National Commercial Agreement, which set terms for hiring actors for commercials between ACTRA, the ICA and the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) for the past 60 years. After such a lengthy negotiation period, two of the parties — ACTRA and ACA — reached a one-year agreement that expires May 2025.

The Government of Ontario is a member of the ACA, a group that includes major retailers, telecoms, insurance firms, banks and fast food companies.

Although ACTRA believes the National Commercial Agreement is a collective agreement, it has never officially been recognized as one under provincial labour law, leading to an ongoing battle at the Labour Relations Board between the union and the ICA over whether the agreement binds advertising agencies to use union performers for all of their commercials.