Three Months of Bargaining Yields Gains for Animation Workers
Burbank, CA, November 25, 2024 — The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 (TAG) reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Nov. 22, 2024. The agreement is the result of multiple rounds of negotiations over the course of more than three months.
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 Saturday morning.
The Animation Guild bargains a new agreement with the AMPTP every three years. 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 next phase will be a ratification vote by Animation Guild members.
"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." - Steve Kaplan, TAG Business Representative
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.