2009 Executive Committee Meeting in London, 12th and 13th of November
The annual FIA Executive Committee meeting was held on the 12th and 13th of November in London, where Equity UK kindly hosted the committee’s members. This meeting was the opportunity for the Secretariat to evaluate the work performed within FIA since the Marrakech Congress where the last Executive Committee meeting had been held, to take a look at what has been done in a year and what remains to be carried out. Indeed, the agenda was pretty heavy, and most matters were extensively discussed: progresses made at the WIPO; New Media Report made by FIANA/ESG technicians group; piracy, its dramatic consequences on our industry and the presentation of some national responses to the issue, such as the graduates response method recently implemented in France; … The meeting thus allowed the Executive Committee’s members to give the Secretariat some guidelines or to approve of its already taken positions in its defence of performers’ rights regarding all these issues.
The topic of Twinning Agreements was also brought on the table. After hearing positive and enthusiastic echoes from CAEA (Canda) and AEA (USA) concerning their respective experiences with ORUUANO (Namibia) and NATAAZ (Zambia), Equity UK reported on its newly established connection with GAG, Ghana’s union, which they had met with in Accra a few weeks earlier. The numerous advantages of the twinning practice were put forward by the Secretariat and by the unions already involved in such experiences, stressing notably on the importance of solidarity between performers’ unions around the world.
This meeting was also the occasion to evaluate FIA’s regional groups’ progresses. For instance, members of the Committee were pleased to hear about the AfroFIA meeting held in Accra, in Ghana, just a few weeks earlier. Reports from FIA’s Gerneral Secretary and President, both present in Accra, confirmed the energy and great potential to be found in this FIA regional group. A report on the FIA-NA/ESG October meeting, held in Los Angeles, was also presented and a EuroFIA meeting was held in London the very next days following the Executive Committee meeting. As for FIA-LA, our Latin American group, it is about to hold a meeting in Brazil during the first days of December. FIA is delighted to observe all this energy and activity. This kind of meetings is essential for FIA to be truly effective and it allows our members to establish ambitious working programs, for the three next years to come in some cases, thus strengthening the bounds existing between FIA affiliates and optimizing not only their work but the Secretariat’s too.
The Executive Committee was pleased to welcome British actor Alan Rickman during its meeting. He joined us to present and support IPAT (International Performers’ Aid Trust), an organisation for which he offices as President. IPAT’s objective is to help the most deprived artists, performers who struggle to make a living, struggle even to survive, while preserving their local cultures and bringing joy to others. IPAT thus proves to be an essential source of help in several countries, on all continents, participating to the preservation of cultures and to the battle against poverty.
A motion was also passed during the meeting to stress FIA’s help and support to MEAA. Indeed, the Australian affiliate of FIA is invested in a strike by Australian performers as a result to the termination of the ‘Offshore Commercials Agreement’ by the SPAA (Screen Producers Association of Australia) concerning remuneration for performance and broadcast and other rights for artists contracted in the production of international television and theatrical commercials produced in Australia or by an Australian party. Download this motion here below.
Support to MEAA regarding strike against SPAA
FIA XIX World Congress - Meeting Report and Resource Page
FIA’s 19th Congress recently took place in Marrakech from the 24-27 of October 2008. We were received in Marrakech by our host union SNPT, whose hard-working team, lead by El Hassan Neffali, contributed greatly to the success and smooth running of the event. Certainly the Congress in Marrakech was an unforgettable occasion, and an important moment in the life of the Federation. It was also an occasion that enjoyed a great deal of visibility in the Moroccan press, as well as the substantial support of local politicians and organisations. We were greatly honoured to receive the patronage of his Majesty Mohamed the 6th for our 19th Congress. His speech, which was relayed to the Congress members by his representatives, was a very valuable addition to the Congress proceedings and discussion.
The Congress was extremely well attended with some 96% of FIA’s membership present. This in turn made it a
rich meeting with representatives from all continents coming together to share and exchange their varied, yet often parallel, experience. It was moment of solidarity and of renewal for the Federation. The debates that took place have served to re-orientate our work and set our priorities for the coming four years. They took in many of the traditional and ongoing concerns of the performance sector: such as health and safety, working terms and conditions, status of the artist, trade union development, training; equal opportunities and agents and managers; but also emerging and rapidly evolving themes: such as new media; intellectual property and cultural diversity.
Meeting Documents:
For a full overview of the motions adopted by the Congress you can download a complete version of the final amended motions and emergency motions below. Together, these constitute an important blue print for FIA’s work in the coming years. In addition, we are making speeches made at Congress available below. We do not yet have all of the speeches, but we will continue to add them as we receive them.
Statutory Business
The Congress also oversaw the important statutory business of FIA, including adoption of its accounts and election of its statutory bodies. As you will have seen on the homepage, FIA now has a new President Agnete Haaland, having bid a fond farewell to former President Tomas Bolme, who will remain in close contact with FIA, as its newly designated President Emeritus. For a complete breakdown of the new Presidium and Executive membership, please visit the Governance and Constitution page of the website.
Regional and Linguistic Meetings
A certain number of additional meetings also took place at the Congress. These included the regional groups EuroFIA, AfroFIA and FIA-LA, as well as the English and French speaking groups. These reports have been made available individually on the pages below. These are the reports drawn up by the groups themselves in order to inform the congress of their activities. Further information is available from group coordinators. Their contact details can be requested from the Secretariat.
| EuroFIA |
| AfroFIA |
| FIA-LA |
| EN-Speaking Group |
| FR-Speaking Group |
Minutes of the Congress and the other meetings of the FIA statutory bodies are also being prepared. These will shortly be available on request from the Secretariat.
Photos from the Congress:
The picture below is a group photo of all of the Congress attendees with the Palais des Congrès in the background. We have made it and several other photos available for download below.
All Congress Motions - Amended and Emergency
Final Motions as adopted - ENGLISH Final Motions as adopted - FRENCH Final Motions as adopted - SPANISH Emergency motions - ENGLISH Emergency Motions - FRENCH
All Congress Motions - Continued
Emergency Motions - SPANISH All Motions - RUSSIAN
A few Photos From the XIXth FIA Congress
Group Photo of Congress delegates Moroccan Team Newly Elected FIA Executive New President Agnete Haaland being interviewed
Speeches made at the FIA XIXth Congress in Marrakech October 2008
We hope to make available on this page many of the speeches made at Congress. At present the list is not complete, so we would ask those who spoke to kindly send their speeches/presentations to us for inclusion on this page. They will be added as we receive them, in the original language, and are in the order of the programme.Welcome Speech by Tomas Bolme, Former President of FIA Presentation of the Secretary General Report - Dearbhal Murphy/Dominick Luquer Speech by Jim McKee of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity Speech by Paul Bronhorst of Paul Bronkhorst, Director of the Dancer Transition Resource Centre
October 21-23, 2005 - FIA Executive Committee meeting, Sydney
The 2005 annual meeting of the FIA Executive Committee was held in Sydney, Australia. Delegates extensively discussed institutional matters and, in particular, the revision of the FIA subscription system. This is a complex issue, as it is must balance the unequal revenues of our members with the need to grant an operational budget to the Federation. The Executive decided that further consultation on this matter is necessary, with the help of the Presidium. The Secretariat’s action priorities for 2006 shall be intellectual property and WIPO, training and development, communication as well as health and safety in the workplace. The Executive Committee also focused on Peer-to-Peer and supported a gradual approach to the issue, fostering – among other things – format harmonisation, consumers’ education, and the establishment of efficient legal distribution systems. In particular, the Committee did not express support to initiatives aiming to criminalise network users indiscriminately, nor to those aiming to legalise Peer-to-Peer networks on the basis of a legal licence. A motion in favour of Australian workers facing an unprecedented bash of industrial relations in the country led by Prime Minister John Howard was approved by acclaim. The next FIA Executive Committee will meet in Berlin, from 16 to 17 September 2006.
FIA Executive Committee motion
September 23-25, 2005 - EuroFIA meeting, Prague
The European group of FIA met in Prague to support the challenges of performers’ unions in the newly acceded EU countries and to review its policy in relation to recent European Commission’s initiatives of concern to the sector. Read more…
May 14-15, 2005 - FIANA meeting, Toronto
The North American group of FIA has met for the first time since 2004. Among the various issues discussed, were safety and health in the workplace, non-union productions, intellectual property and WIPO, the industrial action undertaken by ANDA dubbing artists in Mexico, as well as cultural diversity. The revision of the ACTRA/AFTRA/ANDA/SAG Pact of Friendship also progressed successfully. The Pact is expected to be finalised by the end of 2006. More information...