In House VFX Artists At Disney Take The First Steps Toward Joining A Union:
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which is a union, announced Monday that Disney’s visual effects team has asked the National Labor Relations Board for an election to join a union.
This comes just a few weeks after Marvel’s VFX team did the same thing. Over 80% of Walt Disney Pictures’ 18 in-house VFX team members signed permission cards, which showed that they wanted to join a union.
IATSE said that Marvel and Disney’s files were the first for VFX workers, who “have come together to demand identical rights and safeguards to be their unionized colleagues across the film industry.”
The news comes at a time when businesses all over Hollywood are asking for better working conditions.
Gladius Studios In Puerto Rico Also Decided Unanimously To Join A Union Earlier This Month:
The votes for unionization at Marvel Studios VFX will be counted on September 12, but earlier this month, all the workers at Gladius Studios in Puerto Rico decided unanimously to join a union.
Since the Writers Guild of America went on strike in May and the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, went on strike in July, Hollywood projects have ground to a stop.
IATSE said that some of Walt Disney Pictures’ biggest hits, like the live-action versions of “Lion King,” “Beauty as well as the Beast,” “Aladdin,” as well as “Pirates of the Caribbean,” were made by VFX workers who want to form a union.
Today, Brave People Who Work In Visual Effects At Walt Disney Pictures Defeated Their Fear And Kept Quiet:
“Today, brave visual effects workers at Walt Disney Pictures defeated the fear and quiet that kept our community from speaking up at work for decades.
With an absolute supermajority of these teams demanding an end to “the way VFX possesses always been,” it is clear that our effort is not related to a single studio or company.
IATSE VFX leader Mark Patch said within a statement, “It’s about VFX workers all over the industry employing the tools we have to help ourselves and make a better path forward.”
“These VFX workers’ drive is not just admirable; it’s also groundbreaking. Their group action toward the status quo is a big change in our industry at a very important time.
IATSE Said That If The Votes Show That People Want To Join A Union, The Company Has To Negotiate In Good Faith:
“The number of people calling for change is unprecedented, and it shows that our united movement is not regarding any one company, but about setting a standard of dignity, respect, as well as fairness for everyone,” said Matthew D. Loeb, the International President of IATSE.
IATSE said that if the votes show that people want to join a union, the company has to negotiate in good faith. CNN has asked the Walt Disney Company what they think about it.
VFX jobs have never been covered by unions, even though IATSE has supported a wide range of jobs, from production design to lighting as well as sets.
Since the initial “Star Wars” movies were made in the years 1970 and 1980, VFX workers have not been able to join a union.
As part of the move, workers who want to join a union are asking for fair pay for all hours worked, good health care, retirement benefits, as well as the same rights and safeguards as their organized coworkers who are already covered by IATSE.
Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantum Mania Was The Result Of Disney’s Bad Planning, Shifting Deadlines, And Impossible Workloads:
These requests are similar to the growing number of calls for change in the VFX business. IATSE’s 2022 VFX Worker Rate as well as Conditions Survey, which was released in March, found similar feelings.
throughout the past year, several stories about the stressed as well as underpaid teams that make Disney’s billion-dollar series films have shown that the company has a bad heart.
A typical gripe about Marvel and Disney’s recent work is that people don’t like how well these effects work. A lot of VFX workers told the press that Disney’s bad planning, changing schedules, as well as impossible tasks were to blame for Ant-Man as well as the Wasp: Quantum Mania’s bad digital effects.
Workers At FX Have Never Belonged To A Union:
Basically, the workers say that if these impacts houses don’t agree to the companies’ terms, they might lose the business of Hollywood’s biggest customer.
Since the 1970s and 1980s, when visual effects were initially employed to make the first Star Wars movies, VFX workers weren’t part of a group. They are now working to change that.
These workers are getting together to demand for fair pay for all the hours they work, good health care, retirement benefits, and the same advantages and protections as their coworkers who are already part of the IATSE union.
These Requests Show That More And More People Want The VFX Business To Get Better:
These requests show that more and more people want the VFX business to get better. IATSE’s VFX Worker Rate as well as Conditions Survey, which took place in 2022 and came out in March, backs them up.
By putting in their request upon Monday, a vote on whether to form a union might take place within just as two to three weeks.
If most of these workers decide in favor of joining a union, the company would have to start real talks to make a contract for this category of workers.
