Article
“It’s possible to make every job a good job, we just decide not to”: Lessons from the film industry for the gig economy
Issues in Action | Brave New Work
Share
Released:June 10, 2021
Project: Brave New Work
Issues in Action
This case study illustrates the topics in Laura Lam’s report on Navigating Precarity in Non-Standard Work.
At the moment of impact, Ahmad knew he was lucky to be alive.
“The helmet I was wearing was completely broken,” says the 36-year-old Syrian refugee who has called Toronto home for the last five years, “I had two orders on me. I was delivering at the time.”
It was October 2020, along downtown Toronto’s bustling Bloor Street near High Park. Ahmad, who asked us not to use his last name, is a food carrier for Uber Eats, Skip the Dishes and DoorDash. He was riding his electric bike when the driver of a car, also an Uber driver, pulled out of a parking spot and did not see him. Ahmad’s head injuries forced him to stay off work for two weeks to recover. During those two weeks, he did not get paid.
“I didn’t get any support for lost wages,” says Ahmad, admitting this made it difficult to pay his monthly rent of $1500. “There is nobody to protect you or help you. There are no health benefits at all. They don’t see you like other industries. They call you a freelancer or contractor so you don’t have any rights as an employee.”
Delivering food is not exactly Ahmad’s dream job. He studied five years in Syria to become an electrical engineer before he was forced to flee the country. Those skills are not transferable here in Canada, and he, like thousands of others, was forced to take a job with little to no security.
“There is no steady income,” he says. “Some days there are a lot of orders and it’s busy, some days it’s not good. You have to save your money for the bad days.”
“It’s hard to qualify for a mortgage, it’s hard to plan your week, it’s hard to raise a family,” says Brian Topp, a Canadian political strategist, Public Policy Forum Fellow and the former Executive Director of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) Toronto, the union representing Canadian film and television performers.
“The stress and uncertainty of precarious employment,” Topp adds, “is highly stressful for the employees and it has a physical effect on you.”
Lesson from the film industry for the gig economy
Millions of modest-income earners in Canada are precariously employed, often in jobs in the “gig economy.” Jobs in gig economy industries like ride-hailing and food delivery often have little stability, low wages, no benefits, no pension and few employment standards.
Canada’s labour market is anticipated to be more uncertain and unstable post-pandemic. That has rights advocates like Brian Topp saying Canada should look to past successes to help forge a more prosperous path forward. One of those successes, according to Topp, is the Canadian film industry.
“ is highly precarious,” Topp says. “You’re going to be hired for a single day, two or three days, a week or maybe a month if you’re one of the most successful performers.”
For decades, the film industry has organized for better pay. In the 1940’s, radio performers created a group called RATS (Radio Artists Toronto) with the slogan “we want a dollar a holler.” It was an early labour movement that gave the performers a voice, demanding equality on the job. The group eventually formed the association known today as ACTRA.
“What makes people in film different from other precarious workers is that you have people who have some power,” Topp says. These people? Actors. The directors wanted to hire them. Fans wanted to watch them. The performers had clout.
“Those people used the market power that they had, not just to get a better deal for themselves, but also to power an association of precarious workers trying to set standards for everybody in their job category and for people who didn’t have power.”
To work in the Canadian film and television industry, performers must be a member of ACTRA, which protects their rights on the job. Members pay union dues and make contributions toward an RRSP, helping to build a retirement fund. This is critical, as the average income of a Canadian performer is about $14,000 a year.
“So it puts you in a world where you get a contribution to your pension and benefits from multiple gigs,” says Topp. “You could work for five, 10 or 15 employees in a year but they are all contributing to the same plan.”
ACTRA’s power has extended to the others on set, with unions now also representing tradespeople, artisans and stagehands among others. It helps make the entire industry a level playing field.
“It is really important as we try to figure out how to bring gig workers into labour standards that we make sure that we have a robust and deep conversation with existing organizations, like ACTRA, that represent freelance employees that have had quite big success in doing just this,” says Karl Pruner, Communications Director of ACTRA Toronto and retired actor.
Pruner, whose big break was the 90’s Canadian television drama E.N.G., says this country needs to empower all employees in all industries to have a voice. “We’re not advocating for the overthrow of capitalism or any such thing, we’re just saying that in most workplaces nowadays it’s recognized that if you want to improve the lives of workers you ask the workers.”
Topp says areas of the gig economy are crying out for reform. He says there needs to be a shift in public policy in two main areas: minimum government employment standards and turning gig jobs into good jobs by forming either voluntary or mandatory collective agreements.
“Every employee, either gig or full time, should have the right that their pay always includes contributions to benefits in some form. Whether it’s a public plan or a cooperative plan, the employer should take responsibility.”
Laura Miller, Head of Public Policy and Communications at Uber Canada, says the company is trying to do just that. She says a recent survey of Uber drivers and delivery people found 74% of them, like Ahmad, named flexibility and independence as the best part of the job. Still, 81% of those drivers and delivery people want that flexibility to come with benefits. As a result, in March, Uber Canada tabled a proposal called Flexible Work+ which would create a self-directed benefits fund for drivers and delivery people based on hours worked. It would allow workers to withdraw cash for benefits such as dental care, vision care, RRSPs or education.
“It’s a modern approach to app-based work in Canada,” Miller says. “This proposal can create a better future for independent work, by requiring platform companies like Uber to contribute funds that driver and delivery people can spend on benefits.”
Miller says the plan will only work if provincial governments change the laws governing the app-based industry so that all companies, not just Uber, would be forced to provide the new benefits and job protections. Miller says it would help workers build up benefits regardless of which app they are working for at any given time, similar to a portable benefits plan. If Flexible Work+ were to become law in Canada, Uber estimates its company alone would contribute CAD $40 million in benefits funds annually.
Making gig jobs good jobs
Ahmad plans to continue delivering for now, in part because he is pessimistic about his employment future. “It’s not easy. The only thing I can do is go to school to study in a college, and then I will likely be forced to find work in something that is lower than my degree .”
However, even without benefits and protections, he says the job works for him because “you don’t have to work nine to five. I choose to do this now because I need the freedom.”
Topp worries that until the industry changes, the freedom Ahmad enjoys comes with a dangerous price-tag.
“If you want to go for a coffee, you can do it,” says Topp, “but if you want to earn a living at it you have to work very hard and you’re [risking] both your income and the capital required to run a business. It seems like a highly unequal relationship and you have to wonder if it’s a good deal for most of the people doing it.”
“We don’t have to trade stability for flexibility,” says Kaylie Tiessen, a researcher and national representative with UNIFOR, Canada’s largest private sector union. “If we built a better system, employees could have the flexibility they want in order to live the lives they want and they could have stable employment at the same time.”
Tiessen says we need to take a closer look at what standards are provided by the government and what are provided by employers, and ensure those standards are upheld.
“We need to make sure that workers have the ability to unionize and the right to substantial bargaining power in order to have more say over their working conditions. We need policies like higher minimum wage and paid sick days .”
“It’s possible to make every job a good job; we just decide not to,” adds Tiessen.
Post-pandemic, Topp urges the federal government and provincial governments to work together to coordinate a response to the growing gig economy.
“We’re more likely to see more rather than less gig work. So, the question is: on what terms? Is it possible to have a bigger share of employment and gig work that are good jobs or is this a one-way racket to make more people poor?”
Thank you to our partners
Thank you to our lead sponsor
Thank you to our partners
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Events
What We Learned: Brave New Work Round Up
PPF's flagship Brave New Work project is wrapping up by rounding up the perspectives and insights of over 20 of the people who contributed to the project over the years. We ask them what they learned about the future of work, and what they recommend needs to be done next.
Past Event
Turning Point 2020: When the Future of Work Became the Present
When we look back on 2020, we’ll see a turning point, but right now the destination is unclear. This free, 3-part virtual conference on the future of work in Canada was held on June 16, 17, & 18th, 2020.
Past Event
Work in Progress: Why jobs are changing and where are the opportunities for all?
And why are jobs changing? Join the Indigenomics Institute's Carol Ann Hilton and Microsoft's Edoardo de Martin for a dialogue facilitated by SFU's Mark Winston on June 14 in Vancouver.
Past Event
Brave New Work Conference
Technology, demographics and other factors are transforming the world of work – and quickly. Push aside the dystopian scenarios and watch this discussion that helped shape policy pathways to enable Canadians to thrive in the jobs of the future.
Reports
Automation, AI and COVID-19
A majority of Canadians indicate they have at least a basic understanding of AI and automation. Politicians have an opportunity to seize upon this perceived knowledge to address coming challenges by linking COVID-19 solutions to challenges — and potentially positives — presented by AI and automation. This new report by Peter Loewen and Blake Lee-Whiting shows signs that Canada has not seen a large populist backlash to the pandemic, but that could be coming, perhaps against immigration policies, if citizens feel the government is not following through on job creation.
Managing Transformation in Disrupted Sectors
There are lessons to be learned from industries that have survived and thrived through disruption, as well as those that have failed to navigate industry transformation. We need to learn from the past while we look for innovative ways of working together to rebuild the economy. To achieve these goals, we need to plan for inevitable change as all sectors, no matter how resilient writes Lori Turnbull. With the right tools, workers, employers and sectors can fortify themselves in a new economy.
Navigating Precarity in Non-standard Work
An estimated 30 percent of the Canadian workforce is engaged in non-standard, precarious work, with an inability to transition to something more stable. As the labour market has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, now is a critical time to examine what has played an integral part in shaping the current landscape of our labour market. This paper explores policy considerations around data, benefits and alternatives to envision a future where precarity does not have to be a reality.
Improving the Linkages between University and Work
COVID-19, the skills gap and automation have all conspired to change the work landscape in Canada and post-secondary institutions must respond to those changing needs. Add to that the fact that employers have been complaining for some time that new hires don’t have the skills the workplace demands, and you have a reason to re-evaluate the way universities operate. They tend to focus on content but employers are looking for cognitive and behavioural skills over content and disciplinary knowledge.
Emerging Stronger: Addressing the Skills Under-Utilization Challenge for the Future of Work in Canada
How can Canada use its highly skilled workforce as we transition to a knowledge economy? In their new report, AJ Tibando and Arvind Gupta explore Palette Inc., a not-for-profit platform that was created to upskill diverse and non-traditional workers in an ICT sector biased against hiring them. It looks like the Palette model is working.
The Future is Now: Creating Decent Work Post-Pandemic
Artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, the sharing economy and other emerging technologies were expected to upend the nature of how people work, eliminate an array of routine and repetitive tasks, and put pressure on social support frameworks designed for a different era. These impacts expected to be felt in the near to medium term suddenly find themselves present. The need to reinvent Canada's social and economic policy frameworks has a newfound urgency.
A Place-Based Lens to the Future Of Work in Canada
An urban-rural scan of potential long-term effects of the future of work shows the negative effects of a displaced workforce will be felt disproportionately among rural residents, who make up the majority of high-risk employment sectors that will succumb to technology-induced disruption. Understanding how these changes could affect urban centres vs. rural areas is a crucial ingredient to long-term policymaking and key to creating an effective place-based policy agenda for Canada to manage those disruptions and keep an urban-rural economic divide that already exists from growing
Managing Precarious Work: Three Canadian Models for Rebalancing Bargaining Power in the Future of Work
Hear the expression “precarious employment” or the “gig economy” and you’ll almost certainly think of the Uber driver who took you to the airport last week. However, precarious employment dates back much further. This report examines three entrenched models—construction workers, those in film and theatre, and those in academia—for recommendations governments can use to address the growing challenge of gig work.
Old Gigs, New Gigs: Are Courts and Legislators Reinterpreting an Age-Old Debate for the New World of Work?
Courts and legislatures are deciding whether your Lyft driver is an independent contractor or an employee. The classification is a big deal, affecting workers' protections through to retirement. This paper surveys the current state of the gig economy and how courts, tribunals and legislatures in North America and the UK are tackling the issue of employment classification.
Automation, AI and Anxiety: Policy Preferred, Populism Possible
Who is fearful of automation and what do they want politicians to do about it? This paper finds a correlation between Canadians’ fear of job losses from automation and populist and nativist views—but also that Canadians favour traditional government policy approaches to job disruption, such as retraining, more than radical measures such as reducing immigration.
Facilitating the Future of Work Through a Modernized EI System
Gaps in Canada’s Employment Insurance program are already leaving too many workers behind as gig work, part-time jobs and self-employment grow. EI needs to be modernized now to support Canadians as they transition to an economy and labour market disrupted by technology and automation.
Skills, Training and Lifelong Learning
Training for working Canadians is scarce, and the people who most need it are the least able to get it. As global competition and technological change increase, Canada needs to create effective and inclusive systems of training, which are essential for innovation, growth, employment and good incomes. In this report, Daniel Munro looks at Canada's strengths and weaknesses, training models from around the world, and suggests improvements to lifelong learning systems.
Articles
Pandemic Learning: Paid Micro-Training Opportunities for Post-Pandemic Recovery
Broad, rapid government support received widespread support in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on their public opinion research, Peter Loewen and Blake Lee-Whiting argue that Canadians, especially those who lost income or jobs during the pandemic, would be eager to receive government-assisted skills training as part of that support.
Commitment to lifelong learning is win-win for manufacturing company AVIT and its employees
A people-centric approach at AVIT Manufacturing in Peterborough, Ont. means that employees are continuously offered opportunities to upgrade their skills and learn new ones. AVIT provides a prime example showing that encouraging lifelong learning in workplaces is an asset. Read this case study by Daniel Squizzato on navigating precarity on managing transformation in disrupted sectors – all for PPF's Brave New Work project on the future of work.
Surviving Disruption in the Shipbuilding Industry
Irving Shipbuilding Inc. found itself in the middle of a rapidly changing shipping industry, and had to adapt to the evolving requirements of talent and infrastructure. Their grow-at-home approach may be the one to adopt in other disrupted sectors too. Read this case study by Sherry Scully on managing transformation in a disrupted sector – all for PPF's Brave New Work project on the future of work.
“I will have to work until the day I die”: Could portable benefits bring financial hope to essential workers caught in the messy middle of Canada’s economy?
Gig-work continues to grow in preference among workers for its flexibility, but increasing frustration surrounding the lack of benefits is proving to be an important challenge that needs to be tackled. Could portable benefits be the solution the gig-work economy needs? Read this case study by Catherine Lathem on navigating precarity in non-standard work – all for PPF's Brave New Work project on the future of work.
Federal program aims to support lifelong learning, but analysts call for changes
The government is looking for ways to support citizens in lifelong learning-- the Canada Training Benefit is one way of doing this. However, it may not be enough. Read this case study by Rosanna Tamburri on education innovation – all for PPF's Brave New Work project on the future of work.
As a means of reskilling Canada’s workforce, are microcredentials a boon—or just hype?
Microcredentials are emerging as a popular method for upskilling, but their lack of standardization, among other concerns, may impact whether or not these programs are here to stay. Read this case study by Rosanna Tamburri on education innovation – all for PPF's Brave New Work project on the future of work.
UHN’s Michener Institute “revolutionized” health care training. Does it hold lessons for other sectors?
The Michener Institute is the only postsecondary institution that directly works to meet the immediate needs of the healthcare system. "The Michener Model" may not only be valuable for Canada's evolving healthcare landscape, but may also have transferrable learnings for other sectors, too. Read this case study by Rosanna Tamburri on education innovation – all for PPF's Brave New Work project on the future of work.
It’s not a problem we need to solve, it’s really about good management
As the world of work continuously shifts, modernizes and innovates, what moves can be made to get and stay ahead when it comes to making work more accessible? PPF co-hosted The Future of Accessible Work panel discussion with Microsoft Canada featuring national and international accessibility leaders & advocates. This speaker series engaged PPF members to learn about accessibility and inclusion straight from the experts. To keep the conversation going and share our lessons learned, we have encapsulated five significant takeaways from the discussion.
Brave New Work Newsletter #4
In the fourth edition of our Brave New Work Newsletter: Our latest report on rebalancing bargaining power in the future of work, a panel discussion on the future of Alberta's energy sector, and two of our latest blog posts.
Stewarding AI and cultural change: It’s everybody’s business
What will it take to steward digital development and support workers and the broader public as we transition to a more automated future? Emerging leaders from the Banff Forum say the underlying principles we follow – and insist on – may make all the difference.
Moving gig work into good work: Making sense of the new legal landscape around the gig economy
The debate over the employment status of gig workers continues to play out in California legislation. What can Canadian regulators learn for our own first attempts at legislation from California’s decision to enact Assembly Bill 5?
Learning to Change: Worker Resilience and Adaptability
What does it mean to be adaptable and resilient as a worker, in the face of radical changes to work? With a focus on Alberta, emerging leaders from the Banff Forum and the City of Edmonton discussed policy lessons and policy solutions to prepare individuals and employers for workforce change.
Paycheque to Paycheque: Coping with Income Volatility as Work Changes
What can we do about workers living paycheque to paycheque, with the rise of the gig economy and future changes to work? Emerging leaders from the Banff Forum gathered and came up with a holistic set of policy measures for improving the well-being of workers and to help prevent economic marginalization as work changes.
Brave New Work Newsletter #3
In the third edition of our Brave New Work Newsletter: Five things we learned at our Brave New Work Conference, our latest report on the correlation between Canadians’ fear of job losses from automation and populist and nativist views, and a new blog post on why 'robots will replace us' thinking is not that simple - or that scary!
Robots will replace us!
The most popular way of analyzing the future of work — the labour substitution model — is far too narrow for our complex world. By looking at three other dimensions of change, we can better understand, and prepare for, tomorrow’s opportunities.
Five big things we learned at the Brave New Work Conference
The prospect of losing our jobs to automation may keep us up at night and change our politics, but there are other factors at play, too. Here are five key challenges and some smart policy responses that emerged at the inaugural Brave New Work Conference.
Report Preview: Do Canadians’ fears about automation push them to populism?
In an upcoming report for PPF’s Brave New Work project, Peter Loewen and Benjamin Allen Stevens find a correlation between Canadians’ fear of job losses from automation and populist and nativist views—but also that they favour traditional government policy approaches to job disruption, such as retraining, more than radical measures such as reducing immigration.
Why the future of work may be the most pressing issue of our time
Today’s technological revolution holds out tremendous promise to improve our lives and work, writes PPF's President and CEO Edward Greenspon, but we must ensure its opportunity is available to all, and that policy softens the downsides of the disruption it causes. Join our Brave New Work project to be part of the solution.
The future of work is a gender equity issue
Job displacement could disproportionately push women out of the workforce in Canada's jobs future. Women fill many of the lower-paid, often precarious jobs and if contingent work becomes more common it will entirely disrupt the notion of a career ladder - and leadership positions are already dominated by men.
Brave New Work Newsletter #2
In this second newsletter: New report on big gaps in Employment Insurance, emerging leaders share principles for inclusion that we should all follow, and we learn how disrupting the career ladder creates challenges to gender equity.
How do we build an inclusive future of work?
Emerging leaders from the Banff Forum gathered to discuss: Who is missing from Canadians' dialogue about our brave new world of work? They came up with a clear set of guiding principles and recommendations for policymakers.
Brave New Work Newsletter #1
In this first edition of our Brave New Work Newsletter: A new report on the strengths and weaknesses of Canada's training systems, what Canada’s associations see trending in the future of work, and students imagine how Canadians would learn if universities and colleges no longer existed.
Canada’s Associations See What’s Trending in the Future of Work
From new ways of approaching lifelong learning to recognizing that technology is not the only driver of workplace change, representatives of Canadian associations shared their perspectives on the changing nature of work and how workers and employers are affected.
Using Foresight to Explore the Future of Work
What happens when university students imagine how they would learn if universities and colleges no longer existed? As part of PPF’s Brave New Work project, we invited students from the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs at Carleton University to do a foresight exercise on the future of learning, skills and access. They had some fascinating ideas.
Three ways to reduce anxiety about the future of work
Rapid change in how we work can stoke fears of a jobless future, but these key policy changes can help turn anxiety into opportunity.
News
Public Policy Forum and TD Bank Group announce multi-year Future of Work strategic partnership
During the April 12 Testimonial Dinner, TD Bank Group's Norie Campbell announced a three-year initiative with PPF to advance a pan-Canadian policy dialogue on the changing nature of work.