After 3 months of bargaining, the guild (TAG 839) has negotiated a new deal centered on fair wages, job security, and guardrails around Generative AI use.
The Animation Guild (TAG), IATSE Local 839 has just announced that on November 23, 2024, they reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The agreement is the result of multiple rounds of negotiations over the course of more than three months. The Animation Guild bargains a new agreement with the AMPTP every three years.
On Aug. 12, 2024, negotiations commenced with TAG addressing “wage increases, shrinking crews, and a need for common sense guardrails around the use of Generative AI.” An agreement was not reached within the initial five days allotted for bargaining. Negotiations resumed on Sept. 16, 2024, and continued for a total of 16 non-consecutive days until the tentative agreement was reached early this past Saturday morning. This most recent negotiation comes on the heels of three separate “March on the Boss” events, where large groups of union workers and supporters delivered petitions in-person to major studios: Netflix on October 25, DreamWorks Animation on November 12, and Warner Bros. / Cartoon Network on November 18.
Among the substantial gains achieved by The Animation Guild in this bargaining cycle are:
- Increases to health and pension funds with no cuts to healthcare benefits or added costs to members.
- Wage increases: 7% in the first year, 4% in the second, and 3.5% in the third.
- AI protections that include notification and consultation provisions.
- Improvements in the new media sideletter (aka Sideletter N).
- Protections for remote work.
- New bereavement leave and additional sick days.
- Recognition of Juneteenth as a holiday.
- Craft-specific gains, including a framework for staffing minimums for writers and significant wins for storyboard artists.
The agreement will next be put up for a ratification vote by Animation Guild members.
Steve Kaplan, TAG Business Representative, commented, “After weeks of negotiations that covered months in the calendar, I am very proud of the agreement that we reached with the studios for our new contract. Not only have we seen the inclusion of the advancements in the industry realized by the other Unions and Guilds, but we were able to address industry-specific issues in a meaningful way. I am incredibly proud of the almost one hundred TAG members that volunteered their time and efforts to work through these negotiations. Our Table and Support Team members were stalwart in their resolve to achieve all that we could during these discussions. As always, this new agreement gives us a solid foundation to work with as we work to keep our industry strong over the next three years.”
The Animation Guild, also known as Local 839 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), was founded in 1952. As a labor union, we represent more than 5,000 artists, technicians, writers, and production workers in the animation industry, advocating for workers to improve wages and conditions.
Source: The Animation Guild
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
