Animation workers at Kickstart Entertainment have become the third animation studio group to join The Canadian Animation Guild IATSE Local 938. An application for certification was filed with the BC Labour Relations Board in December of last year and the results were released January 3. The Vancouver studio follows WildBrain Animation Studio, which joined the Guild in the Fall of 2023, and Titmouse Animation Vancouver in 2021.
“Momentum continues to grow as more animation workers are coming together to form unions across Canada,” said IATSE International Representative Jiaming Li. “It has been an inspiration to work with the workers at Kickstart as they come together to join the IATSE.”
CAG 938 Secretary Eddy Pedreira added, “As more and more workers join the Guild, we are improving working conditions for the entire industry. We look forward to welcoming workers at Kickstart into the Canadian Animation Guild.”
Founded in 1999 in Los Angeles, Kickstart’s studios around the world and have contributed to animated projects including Wolverine & The X-Men, Transformers: Rescue Bots, Bottersnikes & Gumbles, Ready Jet Go!, Fruit Ninja, Lucas the Spider, Angry Birds: Summer Madness, Deepa & Anoop, Brown & Friends and Hot Wheels Monster Trucks. Following the successful union certification, workers at Kickstart will now begin the democratic process of bargaining their first collective agreement.
“Bargaining strong collective agreements is what we do best,” said IATSE International Vice President and Director of Canadian Affairs John Lewis. “We look forward to a fulsome bargaining process with this company.”
Animation workers in BC looking for more information on how to improve their working conditions and form a union at their workplace should contact Pedreira at secretary@cag938.ca; those from other entertainment sectors anywhere in Canada should contact IATSE International Representative Jeremy Salter at jsalter@iatse.net.
Additional contact information for CAG 938 is available in the iatse.net directory.
[Source: IATSE Canada]
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