Members of the Animation Guild, IATSE local 839, have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new film and TV contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The vote was 87% in favor of ratification. According to the guild, the number of members who voted more than tripled since the last ratification vote.
“This ratification vote shows that the membership has acknowledged the incredible work of our negotiations subcommittees and dedicated themselves to continuing the work,” said Steve Kaplan, the guild’s business representative. “While we achieved significant gains, we were not able to reach all the priorities we set out to achieve and that our members deserve. The Local has dedicated itself to member engagement and open discussions about how to achieve those goals, and the membership has responded by ratifying this agreement and agreeing to support efforts to build our strength as a union and community to give us greater leverage in the future. I must acknowledge and thank each member of the committee for their hard work over this long negotiation period and thank the leadership and staff of the Local for their never-ending support.”
According to the guild, highlights of the new contract include:
- Establishing wage minimums for streaming derivative and original work. Programs that fell under the New Media High-Budget threshold provided for freely negotiable wages. Now, derivative and original productions of at least 11-minutes in length and budgeted at $25,000 or more per minute are subject to wage minimums.
- For the first time in the history of the agreement, writers have their own job classification, and a framework to build a ladder of progression. The progression has added new classifications for wage minimums, and also addresses issues related to compensation for experienced writers who are not in a supervisory role.
- A pathway for union-covered remote work outside of L.A. County in an unpublished sideletter. The employers agreed that members who have been working remotely outside the state can continue to do so and be covered by the agreement under specific circumstances. This was not a mandatory subject of bargaining.
- Extended parental leave protections to address other life events, such as caring for a family member with a serious health condition.
- Retroactive wage increases.