A supermajority of members of The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) have voted to ratify the 2024-2027 Animation Guild Master Agreement. Of the valid votes cast, 76.1% were in favor of ratification. Additionally, TAG increased voter turnout beyond the historic turnout of last cycle’s vote.
Since the last contract cycle, Guild leadership and member-run groups and committees worked to increase engagement. Their efforts were evident in the high level of engagement throughout the negotiations process, beginning with the historic Stand With Animation negotiations kick-off rally, and including Marches on the Boss at Netflix, DreamWorks and Warner Bros. that were attended by hundreds of working Animation Guild members.
“I want to recognize the incredible work that the Negotiations Committee put into seeing this agreement reached and ratified,” says TAG Business Representative Steve Kaplan. “This agreement is the next step forward in our goal to create the strongest contract for our members. The advancements made here are plenty, but there is also much work to be done with regard to addressing the priority matters that were not fully answered. The membership made clear to us that there is a need for more focus on Generative Artificial Intelligence, and we will attack the issue through a multi-faceted approach including lobbying for effective legislation, advocating for tax incentives for human-made work, and grieving against potential abuses.”
Some of the key gains secured in the Memorandum of Agreement include:
- 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 including written notifications and the ability to consult with the production and identify alternative non-GenAI tools.
- Increases to on-call hours and dismissal pay.
- New bereavement leave and additional sick days.
- Recognition of Juneteenth as a holiday.
- Craft-specific gains, including staffing minimums for writers and significant wins for storyboard artists.
Review the negotiations timeline here: tagnegotiations2024.com/ratification
And the Memorandum of Agreement here: tagnegotiations2024.com/read-the-moa
The Animation Guild, also known as Local 839 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), was founded in 1952. The labor union represents more than 5,000 artists, technicians, writers and production workers in the animation industry, advocating for workers to improve wages and conditions.
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