Tuesday, October 27, 2009 – Visual artists will be sitting down next week with the National Gallery of Canada in hopes of resolving a bargaining impasse that has been outstanding for two years. Negotiations, which first began in 2002, broke down following a disagreement over a point of law regarding the payment of artists’ fees.
“We have been disappointed by the slow pace of negotiations but are hopeful these discussions will be fruitful and we will see a resolution in the next few months,” said Karl Beveridge, co-chair of the artists’ negotiation committee.
The case is a record for the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal (CAPPRT) – the body that oversees negotiations between artists’ professional associations and national producers. Most first scale agreements take less than two years to negotiate.
The artists’ negotiation committee consists of The Canadian Artists’ Representation/le Front des artists canadiens (CARFAC) and le Regroupement des artiststes en arts visuels (RAAV). Both organizations are certified under the Status of the Artist Act to negotiate on behalf of visual artists on a variety of professional workplace issues. They also defend artists’ rights through advocacy and professional development and produces a schedule of artists’ fees that is widely recognized as the national standard.
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For more information contact:
April Britski
Executive Director, CARFAC National
613-233-6161
Melissa Gruber
Communications Coordinator, CARFAC National
613-233-6161
For media inquiries outside of business hours, call 613‑791‑6411 or 613-255-4645.