While browsing through the provincial database of collective agreements, I came across a new collective agreement that was ratified earlier this month.
This agreement was for about 30 workers employed by the Vertigo Theatre and represented by Local 212 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts, otherwise known as IATSE.
Located at the base of Calgary Tower, Vertigo Theatre specializes in intrigue and mystery theatre productions.
According to the Alberta Labour Relation Board’s active certificates report, IATSE 212 represents “all stage employees except persons covered by other collective agreements.” The new collective agreement more specifically states that IATSE 212 represents “all stage technicians employed by the employer”.
These workers voted 83.3% to unionize in August 2025, so this is their first collective agreement as IATSE 212 members.
The new collective agreement brings substantial raises, with 6% in each of the first 2 years and 4% in the final year.
| 2026–2027 | 6.00% |
| 2027–2028 | 6.00% |
| 2028–2029 | 4.00% |
| 16.00% |
By the time the contract expires in June 2029, the only workers who will be making under $30 an hour will be trainees.
Here are some highlights of benefits these workers get in their first contract.
Vertigo Theatre will supply any required safety equipment, except hard hats, steel toe boots, gloves, and other personal safety equipment.
Workers injured on shift will be paid for the entire shift.
The employer will reimburse tuition fees for workers any employer-approved training, and they will pay workers for time spent “in training and development courses; job shadowing, seminars and workshops”.
Shifts will be at least 4 hours. If a shift is shorter, it must be followed or preceded by another shift, the combined length of which must be at least 6 hours.
Maximum shift length will be 12 hours. Anything over that will be paid at double the worker’s base pay rate. Hours worked between 8 and 12 hours will be paid at 1.5 times the base pay rate.
Overtime will also be paid on hours worked between midnight and 08:00 and on hours worked on a 7th consecutive day (and subsequent consecutive days).
Any work performed on a statutory holiday shall be paid out at time and a half but double time for work over 8 hours.
If workers do not receive 24 hours’ notice of cancelled shifts, they will be paid for the first scheduled shift of the day, including any overtime that would have been incurred.
Workers will receive a paid 5-minute coffee break mid-shift for every hour of shift length.
The 1-hour lunch break will be unpaid. If workers do not receive a meal break 5 hours of work, Vertigo Theatre will pay them a meal penalty of $20, plus an additional $10 for each half hour of work.
Vacation pay will depend on how many seasons workers have completed with Vertigo Theatre and will be a percentage of gross pay.
| Seasons completed | Vacation pay |
|---|---|
| 1 season | 4.00% |
| 2–4 seasons | 6.00% |
| 5–8 seasons | 8.00% |
| 9+ seasons | 10.00% |
Vertigo Theatre recognizes the following 13 general holidays, which will be used to determine statutory pay:
- New Yearʼs Day
- Family Day
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- Victoria Day
- Canada Day
- Heritage Day
- Labour Day
- National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
- Thanksgiving
- Remembrance Day
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
Sick leave will be 5 days per year.
Bereavement leave is 3 days and will be paid. It will available for full-time workers in the event of a death in the immediate family, which includes spouse/partner, children (including step), grandchildren, parent (including in-laws), sibling (including in-laws), and grandparents.
Vertigo Theatre will contribute a minimum of 3% (and a maximum of 6%) of a worker’s gross pay for retirement savings purposes, which could include group pension, group RRSP, or both.
The collective agreement was ratified last month, a year after they originally filed to unionize.
