Now that an election agreement has been met, Marvel’s VFX crew will vote next week for union representation, hopefully paving the way for further participation across the entire industry.
After a supermajority of Marvel’s more than 50 VFX crew members signed authorization cards to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) union last week, a stipulated election agreement has been met, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Now, Marvel’s in-house VFX personnel can vote to unionize.
“We are proceeding with our election and we’re confident it will prevail,” said IATSE organizer Mark Patch.
Workers will vote between the August 21 election date and the September 11 deadline. All ballots will be tallied by a trusted third-party, and if the vote passes by majority, the entire crew will be certified into the union. However, only the Marvel division of VFX personnel will be represented; for those employed by third-party VFX studios, new efforts to unionize at those companies will be required.
Patch hopes to form a national VFX Local to cover all workers not yet protected, including those hired by the studios, the production, or third-party VFX companies. The proposed Local would operate under the Basic Agreement contract already in place for the 13 industry Locals, including International Cinematographers Guild (Local 600) and Motion Picture Editors Guild (Local 700). “The majority of VFX workers should be able to find their home in this new union,” Patch explains.
Let’s get this union ball rolling!
Cybersecurity specialist by day, investigative journalist by night.
