Crunch talks on a new contract between the Union of British Columbia Performers and its unionized administrative staff could disrupt efforts to poll B.C. actors on a separate labor deal with North American producers.

Those fears have emerged after the UBCP in-house clerical and support staff, which aligned with the Canadian Auto Workers Union Local 3000 last month, voted in favor of possible strike action to back their own contract demands with the B.C. actors union.

Such a delay would not disrupt production in B.C., however, owing to a long-standing safe harbor agreement in place between the actors and producers.

A UBCP spokesman on Friday refused comment on the separate talks with the CAW, which would need to give 72 hours notice to put itself in a legal strike position. The B.C. union said it would release news on the CAW contract talks when it became available, but would not "negotiate in the press."

The UBCP, in a March 28 statement declaring a settlement in its contract talks with North American producers, said it expected to conclude a referendum of the union's 5,100 performer members by the end of April, without stipulating how that polling might take place.

Sources close to the UBCP-producer talks insist union support staff are required if B.C. actors are to ratify the new contract, which the UBCP negotiating committee has already endorsed.

It's expected the new B.C. Master Production Agreement will be mailed out to UBCP members for review and ratification. But during the just-concluded talks with the Canadian affiliates of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the B.C. branch of the CFTPA, UBCP negotiators told their producer counterparts across the bargaining table that they were considering an online voting system for eventual polling of their members.

The UBCP-CAW Local 3000 talks began last October, and have focused on improved wages and benefits for the administrative staff.

CAW officials were not available for comment at press time, but a recent union newsletter noted that "the relationship between the members and the employer is very strained at this time and a difficult set of negotiations is expected."