After three months of bargaining and multiple rounds of negotiations, The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 (TAG) reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on November 22.
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 (a.k.a. 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.
“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,” said Steve Kaplan, TAG Business Representative. “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.”
Negotiations commenced on August 12, 2024 but an agreement was not reached within the initial five days allotted for bargaining. Negotiations resumed on September 16, and continued for a total of 16 non-consecutive days until this tentative agreement was reached early Saturday morning.
The next phase will be a ratification vote on the tentative agreement by Animation Guild members.
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.
