Animation Guild Members Have Ratified A New 3-Year Contract

Members of The Animation Guild, IASTE Local 839 (TAG), have overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the 2021-2024 Animation Guild Master Agreement.

The ratification comes after a temporary agreement was struck between TAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) back in May. At the time, representatives from both organizations had put in nearly a month’s worth of working days on the negotiations, which began in late 2021 and ran through spring 2022. TAG members then had the month of June to vote in favor, or against, ratification of the agreement.

Of valid votes cast by Guild members in June, 87% were in favor of ratifying the agreement. This ratification vote saw a historic turnout with the number of voting TAG members tripling since the last time a similar vote was held. (When Guild members voted on a new contract in 2018, 1,081 members voted out of 3,695.)

The Guild credits increased engagement, hiring of communications staff, investing in mobilization strategies, and supporting member committees and member-run initiatives for increased engagement among members.

According to the Guild, some of the key gains secured by the negotiations committee include:

• Establishing wage minimums for streaming derivative and original work. Programs that fell under the New Media High Budget threshold provided for freely negotiable wages. Now, derivative and original productions of at least 11-minutes in length and budgeted at $25,000 or more per minute are subject to wage minimums.
• For the first time in the history of the agreement, writers have their own job classification, and a framework to build a ladder of progression. The progression has added new classifications for wage minimums, and addresses issues related to compensation for experienced writers who are not in a supervisory role.
• Created a pathway for Union-covered remote work outside of L.A. County in an unpublished side letter. The employers agreed that members who have been working remotely outside the state can continue to do so and be covered by the agreement under specific circumstances. This was not a mandatory subject of bargaining.
• Extended parental leave protections to address other life events, such as caring for a family member with a serious health condition.
• Retroactive wage increases.

“This ratification vote shows that the membership has acknowledged the incredible work of our negotiations subcommittees and dedicated themselves to continuing the work. While we achieved significant gains, we were not able to reach all the priorities we set out to achieve and that our members deserve,” said TAG business representative Steve Kaplan.

A detailed timeline of Guild’s negotiations can be found here (pdf). Review the Memorandum of Agreement here (pdf).