Animation Union Pushes Production Workers Strategy

LABOR The guild, part of IATSE, is aggressively expanding efforts to target staffers in new roles and at companies beyond Los Angeles County in a bid to strengthen leverage with studios In January, The Animation Guild announced a twofold breakthrough: [...]TAG has unveiled new organizing campaigns of production workers at a rate of practically one a month - at the shows Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites, at studios Titmouse L.A. and ShadowMachine and, on June 2, at The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad! (Before organizing production staff, TAG represented a number of animation workers at these latter employers.) This campaign - targeting production managers, production supervisors, production coordinators, production assistants and writers assistants, among others, all of whom help move artwork and scenes and facilitate communications between departments - has so far paid off for the union. While the attempts to expand TAG's presence at The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad! appear to be headed for a National Labor Relations Board election, the guild says it has succeeded in gaining voluntary recognition at Rick and Morty, Titmouse New York, Titmouse L.A. and ShadowMachine and prevailed in an NLRB election at Solar Opposites.