For the third time in less than a month, hundreds of workers represented by The Animation Guild (TAG) gathered to deliver a petition signed by more than 62,000 union members and public supporters to studio executives. Today’s March on the Boss took place at Warner Bros./Cartoon Network in Burbank, as negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) are set to resume tomorrow, November 19, with the rest of the week earmarked for bargaining.
TAG has been in negotiations with the AMPTP since August. To date, the Guild’s priority issues are still on the table. They are fighting to get the best deal possible for animation workers that includes fair wages, putting a stop to shrinking crews, and common-sense guardrails around generative AI use. Following the delivery of the petition to Netflix last month and DreamWorks last week, this third March on the Boss at Warner Bros./Cartoon Network is part of a series of continuing actions to show employers that TAG members will stand together for as long as it takes to get the contract they deserve.
Members of TAG spoke about why they came out for the March on the Boss:
“As a community and as an industry, this is our leverage. This is our power to negotiate, and we have to exercise it, otherwise we’re going to be left in the dust. Nobody cares about this medium more than us. This is a clutch moment for us, a turning point. We are fighting for our livelihoods, our artforms, and our future.”
– Matt Braly, Creator & Showrunner, Amphibia
“I worked in this [Warner Bros.] building for seven years. We watched shows get canceled left and right during the mergers, and it’s just sad, how many people are not working right now. We kept the entire industry afloat during the pandemic, and then got kicked to the curb. It’s not like we’re asking for the entire bank. We’re just asking for our fair share of what we deserve. Just to make a living at what we love, and work hard to do it.”
– Mike Ruocco, Animator, Writer & Board Artist
“I’m here because so far there hasn’t been a lot of movement on what’s important to the union members, and I want to be part of the force that’s showing, you can’t just walk all over us. [It’s important] for us to be able to go back to a time where if you got a job, it wasn’t for three months, it was for a year — and having protections that help us have a stable job.”
– Sam King, Storyboard Artist
“I’ve been working out here in this industry since 2011, and conditions have been getting worse and worse since then. They’re constantly trying to cut people, and they never replace jobs. I would love some accountability for canceling shows and having whole production teams losing jobs. People invest years into a project, and they have nothing to show for it.”
– Aleth Romanillos, Character Designer & Prop Supervisor
“I’ve been working since 2013, and schedules have been getting shorter and shorter over the years. Productions are not functional, and studios are looking to cut the people that they do have. Everything is about tax cuts for the studios instead of investing in the future. I thought at this point in my career, I would be able to have some consistency, and I have even less consistency in my life than I did in my 20s. This isn’t sustainable. I just want to be able to live. I want a middle-class life.”
– Mary Nash, Background Designer
“Through the pandemic we basically held the entire entertainment industry aloft, and now they’re like, great, we’re going to get rid of all of you as much as we can. We’re going to replace you with AI. They’ve openly said that. When they can’t replace people with AI, they’re trying to outsource to other studios in Canada and overseas. This is unsustainable. This is a middle-class lifestyle that we’re asking to live. These aren’t huge demands.”
– Owen Dennis, Creative & Showrunner, Infinity Train and Among Us
More information on negotiations can be found at TAGnegotiations2024.com.
The Animation Guild, 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 crews in the animation industry, advocating for workers to improve wages and conditions.
