January 6, 2003 – The dues change and Performers’ Rights Society service charge proposed in the constitutional referendum package mailed to all Full ACTRA members in December has been approved. These changes will put ACTRA National, our branches and ACTRA PRS in a more stable financial situation, and allow ACTRA to focus on service areas for members: the fight for Canadian production, bargaining, and the continued collection of Use Fees for members through ACTRA PRS.

The dues change was approved by 69.34%; the ACTRA PRS service charge passed by 57.17%. A total of 12,580 ballots were mailed out to full members. 2,381 ballots were received on the dues change (18.93% of ballots mailed) and 2,321 ballots came in on the ACTRA PRS service charge (18.45% of ballots mailed).

As of March 1, 2003, basic dues will increase from $130 to $175 a year, and working dues will increase from 1.75% to 2.00% of earnings. The dues cap will increases to 2% of the first $150,000 earned (from $2,000 to $3,000). ACTRA PRS will implement a service charge of 5.00% of monies collected on behalf of Full members. The board of ACTRA PRS will decide the effective date for the ACTRA PRS service charge.

How did ACTRA arrive at a constitutional referendum? At our June National Council meeting, ACTRA formed a Finance Committee to look at the finances of our National union, the branches and ACTRA PRS. Over the summer, the committee looked at how ACTRA receives money and where it goes. After much deliberation, the committee recommended a dues change and an ACTRA PRS service charge. These changes required a constitutional referendum vote by the ACTRA membership.

ACTRA’s revenues are no longer adequate to cover costs of our organization and maintain services members expect. ACTRA hasn’t increased dues since 1991 - 12 years ago. In the past five years, the industry has grown by over 130%, but our dues have stayed at 1991 levels. In real dollars, dues have declined by 30% as a result of inflation.

Referendum packages were mailed to all full members on December 5, 2002, to be
returned by January 3, 2003.