Feature animation production workers at Netflix have ratified their first contract with The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839), marking the latest step in the union’s efforts to organize animation production workers in Hollywood.
89% of workers in the bargaining unit voted on the contract, with the 89% in favor. TAG began organizing workers at the studio behind films like “Klaus” and “In Your Dreams” in summer 2023 and received official recognition through an National Labor Relations Board vote at the end of last year.
Netflix and bargaining committee members with TAG negotiated the streamer’s first contract over two weeks, with wage minimums, dismissal pay and workplace protections for production workers among the key gains.
“Every production group to negotiate has built upon the foundation of those that came before them, and the NAS production contract really showcases that,” TAG organizer Allison Smartt said. “NAS workers have won the highest Production Assistant rates in any TAG production agreement. In just five years since we organized the first group of animation production workers, this rate sets the highest bar yet, and it wouldn’t have happened without workers fighting together in solidarity.”
Unionizing production workers and animators who work remotely outside of California has become a major focus of the Animation Guild since 2021, with Nickelodeon and Walt Disney Animation among the early successful efforts by the IATSE local. More recently, production workers at DreamWorks Animation who work on the Peacock comedy series “Ted” successfully unionized with TAG and are currently negotiating their own contract.
“Since I started at NAS in 2019, production workers had undergone constant change, and the shifts in the industry made it clear that we needed to unionize,” production coordiantor Thalia Nalapraya said. “It was a heartbreaking experience to see my colleagues laid off from projects without any safety net. Now that we have ratified our contract, I feel so proud and grateful — to the organizing committee who guided us through the Union vote, the Negotiations Committee for taking the seat at the table and setting the foundations for future negotiations, and the production workers at DreamWorks, Disney, Nickelodeon and others who unionized before us. We wouldn’t have gotten here without learning from their experiences.”
