The CBC Agreement and You
The CFM negotiates and administers the CBC agreements covering all platforms (TV, radio, satellite and internet) and represents all musicians who are engaged for musical services by the CBC whether members of the CFM or not.
CFM is pleased to announce that in early 2015, CFM members overwhelmingly ratified a new concept CBC General Production Agreement. The forward-thinking approach and new concept was developed over a 4 year period. While the guaranteed amount is not what we had wanted, $2M is a substantive amount considering the reduction of support CBC is now receiving from the Canadian government yet we were still able to retain the "Guarantee" concept. No other union has such a guarantee of expenditure with the CBC, or elsewhere. We are optimistic that the combination of the Guarantee, CBC's need to produce and provide content to justify its existence, and their willingness to work with us to bring more independent productions under AFM/CFM Agreements, will result in our members enjoying continued engagement opportunities under very favorable terms and conditions.
Of particular note in the new Agreement are the following changes:
- No longer separate TV and Radio Agreements; one Agreement with 5 modules - General Terms, Drama/Documentary/Children's, Remotes, Distribution and Fees;
- Wages are based on time worked, not programme length;
- Fees include 1 year broadcast on all platforms (TV, Radio, Internet);
- Each platform has equal value - i.e. recording for internet only is the same fee as TV or radio;
- Supplemental markets increase from 5% to 10% of distributor's gross;
- Pension increases from 11% to 12%.