Production workers at sibling studios Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network have made a bid to unionize under The Animation Guild. A petition for union election was filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, backed by 66 WBA staff and another 22 CN employees. The coalition also issued a request for voluntary recognition to studio management.
These actions were announced in a Zoom meeting Wednesday between production workers at the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned studios and The Animation Guild members. The 88 production workers behind the union push include managers, coordinators and assistant managers across production, digital production, design, IT and others working on long-running and upcoming shows, including WBA’s Teen Titans GO!, Harley Quinn and new Bruce Timm series Batman: The Caped Crusader, and CN’s We Baby Bears, Craig of the Creek and Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake.
The drive to unionize was boosted by the decision to combine development and production for the two studios announced in October, with staff seeking “consent over the process and a collective voice to ensure their jobs and standards are protected,” TAG organizer Ben Speight shared. Inspired by the increasing number of studios unionizing with the Guild, the workers are also aiming for higher pay, portable benefits and the instatement of overtime pay for production managers.
[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]
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