Capacity building Workshop in Bogota, Colombia, 4-6 May 2018

Luis Mendoza - DGC

In early May FIA, carried-out a three day capacity building training in Bogota in cooperation with UNI MEI and UNI Americas, and with the financial support of Union to Union. The event was attended by over 40 actors, technicians, and representatives from the main trade unions in the audiovisual sector in Colombia (ACA, ACTV, CICA and CINE-CICA).

The first training session was dedicated to international standards regarding health and safety in the film and television industry. Luis Mendoza from the Directors’ Guild of Canada (DGC) shared his in depth knowledge on how to assess health and safety risks and prevent hazards on film and TV sets, and on the important role the unions play in creating safe work environments.

The focus of the following session was on collective bargaining for decent working conditions and fair remuneration. It was jointly led by representatives from the Argentinean Actors’ Union AAA (Alejandra Rincon), Argentinean TV Union SATSAID (Gerardo Gonzales), and SICA APMA (Guido Valerga). The training provided participants with useful insights on how to develop strategies to successfully carry out collective bargaining to the advantage of the entire audiovisual sector in Colombia.

The training was followed by a seminar for Colombian trade union leaders from the sector led by UNI Americas organizing experts Alan Sable and Henry Olivera, focusing on short-term organizing and collective bargaining strategies. The event resulted in an agreement of all Colombian unions present to enhance inter-trade union cooperation and to carry out joint actions with producers in Colombia with an aim to structure the Colombian film and TV labour market, initiate sectoral social dialogue, improve working conditions, and sustain the audiovisual sector.

Colombia’s movie and TV industry has been taking off significantly since 2016 with an increasing number of international film productions choosing Andean nation for shootings and post-production. In spite of the overall hostile context towards trade unions in Colombia, several trade unions have been created over the past few years with an aim to represent AV workers collectively and improve their working conditions and remuneration.