Equity, the actors’ union in Australia, remains on strike, declaring that its members will not work on foreign (“offshore”) TV commercials Down Under until a labor agreement is reached with the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA).
SPAA officially withdrew from the prior contract on Aug. 7, at which point Equity went on strike. Since then, there’s been no movement toward renewing talks between the two parties.
Last Friday (8/14), Equity picketed SPAA headquarters with some 150 union members turning out. However SPAA got wind of the plans in advance and closed its office that day.
Still, Simon Whipp, director of Equity (which is part of Australia’s Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance–MEAA), said the protest at SPAA headquarters reflected solidarity on the part of union rank and file.
“We understand that the producers are using casting agents to try to get Equity performers to individually break away and work on jobs,” related Whipp who is confident that union members will not break ranks until a contract is agreed upon.
Furthermore, Whipp said the union will take action if necessary in the event producers try to cast nonunion talent on foreign commercials shot in Australia.
Geoff Brown, executive director of SPAA, said that the organization’s producer members are currently bidding on projects and offering local talent work. “These are generous deals being offered by our members to actors. There’s no wholesale cutting of fees,” he affirmed, noting that producers are looking to fashion “flexible usage and session fees” so as to improve the chance of offshore commercials being produced in Australia.
“We have to be more competitive. We weren’t getting this work anyway,” related Brown. “We are hoping that local talent will see that offers being made are reasonable and acceptable. Otherwise we will continue to be in a pattern where Australia is losing out on [foreign] work.”
According to Brown, Australia has for some time been seeing foreign spot production, particularly from the U.S. and U.K., go elsewhere, primarily to New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.
Brown said that SPAA is hopeful of engaging local union actors willing to make “an informed decision in their best interest with their agents, working through casting directors and our members.” He added that SPAA is not at the point where it is considering bringing in actors from outside the union.
A series of contingency plans for producers who want to work during the strike is being drafted by SPAA. Brown said this document will serve as a template for producers to consider. “It’s not a document that will be imposed on any producer. It’s still very much an individual company decision as to how to proceed.
Meanwhile Equity’s Whipp noted, “We sent an open letter to the head of the Producers Association that we remain ready, willing and able to talk, I cannot force someone to talk to me but I very much hope that we can get back to having a dialogue to address the issues.”
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More