The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has issued a non-cooperation directive against actor Ranveer Singh, effectively boycotting him from Bollywood. However, the question arises, can a worker's union call for a boycott or shadow ban on an actor? We take a look at the legal mechanism.
FWICE's directive against Ranveer Singh is based on the actor allegedly walking out of Farhan Akhtar's Don 3 days before the film was to go on floors. However, the union's authority to ban Ranveer is questionable.
As a union, FWICE holds the right to advise and suggest to its members with whom to work and whom not to, but it cannot force that upon them. This lack of authority was underscored in 2017, when producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah dragged them to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) over a dispute involving crew members.
The CCI found that the All India Film Employees Confederation (AIFEC), FWICE and its affiliates, along with the producer associations, were in contravention of provisions of Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act), which prohibits anti-competitive agreements.
This means that while the FWICE can ask its members not to cooperate with films featuring Ranveer Singh, those members can choose not to abide by that directive. Any who do so cannot be penalised monetarily or otherwise by the FWICE.
