The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) aimed to get the attention of some of Canada’s top ad agencies by holding a protest outside of the Marketing Awards on Tuesday.

The Marketing Awards are owned and produced by strategy parent company Brunico Communications.

Though the crowd of actors and their supporters stayed on the sidewalk in front of the Art Galley of Ontario, leaving the path to the doors clear, attendees were greeted by a loud chorus of boos and chants of “shame” as they entered. Most guests appeared to try and ignore the chants, though some offered the crowd gestures of support and took flyers as they entered.

Signs and chants were largely directed towards the ICA, its member agencies and their clients, which ACTRA has been calling for a boycott of since March (Cossette and its clients were removed from the list in April when the agency signed a letter of continuance). Other signs asked for support in allowing actors to continue their livelihoods, with several also decrying corporate greed.

Since April of last year, ACTRA has alleged that its members have been locked out by the ICA and its members after the association walked away from bargaining for the National Commercial Agreement, which governs how ad agencies are to engage actors for commercial work. At issue is an “opt-out clause” that would allow signatories to engage ACTRA talent under the NCA if and when they pleased. ACTRA says this is a clear reduction in the scope of its collective bargaining rights, while the ICA has insisted this is necessary in order to “level the playing field” between its members and newer agencies that have been able to engage ACTRA talent using third-party signatories, without signing the NCA themselves.

The Marketing Awards was chosen for the latest in nearly a year of similar protests because it served as a gathering point for the executives from agencies participating in the lockout. Alistair Hepburn, executive director of ACTRA Toronto, said more than 150 agencies in Canada continue to use ACTRA performers, with the ICA and its member agencies remaining the only hold-outs.

In response to claims that the ICA wouldn’t return to the bargaining table – something many protesters and signs called for on Tuesday – president and CEO Scott Knox told strategy in an email that, in March, ACTRA notified the ICA that it was ending formal negotiations after failing to respond to an earlier proposal in February. Knox added that the ICA also agreed to the mediator ACTRA suggested.

ACTRA’s national executive director and lead negotiator Marie Kelly told strategy in an email the ICA’s February proposal was rejected at the bargaining table, as it would have “gutted” members’ take home pay by 70% to 89%. The organization continues to push the ICA to meet it at the bargaining table with “a reasonable, comprehensive proposal […] that ACTRA members could honestly consider.” Kelly added that ACTRA will present a draft agreement next month, with the assistance of a mediator.

Actor Shalyn Bass-McFaul has participated in several ACTRA protests over the last year, and said she has seen engagement among ACTRA membership building.

“Even for those of us who haven’t done a commercial contract recently, that is our future and how we are supposed to be able to have a career where we won’t starve to death,” she said. “It’s an environment that’s necessary.”

Tim Beresford, a veteran voice actor, said the crowds have steadily been growing, while Ivan Sherry, also a voice actor, added that the last 14 months have galvanized the membership.

“As the momentum has built to do something, instead of becoming angry and divisive, it’s become more joyful and focused,” Beresford said. “I wouldn’t use the word fun, but is a sort of celebration, in spite of the circumstances, of what we are capable of.”

Hepburn said some of the biggest response has been online, pointing to the example of an anonymous group of actors who have started a group to share information. As some of that information comes from those in other sectors of production, he says that is a clear sign that ACTRA’s support stretches beyond its members.

“Some of us have worked in this industry for a long time and have relationships with a lot of people inside,” Beresford added. “They are good people, and they agree with us in one-on-one conversations we get to have with them daily. But we need the people inside to stand up, because ultimately, where does it stop?”

Beresford estimated that roughly 70% of his income had been impacted due to the lockout. Sherry said some colleagues had lost out on nearly all of their income and had been forced to sell homes and tap into retirement savings – Sherry said that he was currently living off of his savings.

“They are able to afford tickets to a fancy award ceremony celebrating their work, which is great for them,” Sherry said. “But we are part of that work, and we can’t feed our families.”

Bass-McFaul was unable to provide an estimate about how much commercial work she had lost out on, as she had completed the path to union membership shortly before the lockout started, but she is still feeling the impact.

“All of my ability to access safer, protected spaces that would offer me better compensation for the work I do were suddenly blocked,” she said.

The dispute between ACTRA and the ICA is also currently before the Ontario Labour Relations Board, over a complaint by ACTRA that the ICA bargained in bad faith by insisting on the opt-out clause. Hepburn says that process is still ongoing, with the Tribunal currently hearing arguments regarding the ICA’s claim that the NCA is not a collective agreement and expired last year based on its own terms, meaning the Ontario Labour Relations Board does not have jurisdiction over the matter.