After the studio refused to recognize their organization efforts this past March because of issues with job titles, 63 employees, including coordinators, managers, and supervisors, have now successfully voted to join The Animation Guild.
Walt Disney Animation Studios production workers, including production supervisors and production managers, have voted to join The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Back in March, a supermajority of production workers at Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS) unionized with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) to bargain their first collective agreement. However, studio leadership refused to voluntarily recognize the organizing effort and chose to exclude more than half of the bargaining unit based solely on job title - claiming production supervisors and production managers work as managers - which, according to the guild, was done solely to capitalize on common misconceptions of labor law and unnecessarily prolong the unionization process.
Production coordinator Maggie Hughes stated, “We knew throughout this process that everyone in our unit deserves to be eligible, but the company still decided to pursue this long and arduous process in an attempt to divide us.”
A NLRB acting regional director found that the bargaining unit was appropriate and issued a direction of election that included all roles, even upper management. Now, 63 production employees, including coordinators, managers, and supervisors, have successfully voted to join The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839). If neither party files an objection to the vote in the next five days, the group will be certified, and bargaining can begin on a first contract.
In a Thursday statement, Animation Guild organizer Allison Smartt said, “As the first production workers at a feature animation studio to unionize with TAG, the production workers at Disney are a shining example of tremendous teamwork, patience, fortitude, and courage in the face of the company’s delay tactics.” She added, “They watched and celebrated the ballot count and took a moment to mark this victory, and gather energy from each other as they prepare for the next step on this journey - getting a strong contract.”
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