A handful of production workers at Nickelodeon Animation Studios who wanted to unionise were successful in getting voluntary recognition courtesy to The Animation Guild (TAG).
A month after the IATSE local filed for a National Labor Relations Board election, Nickelodeon decided to bypass it by approving the recognition of a bargaining unit for 177 employees, including production coordinators, production managers, asset production coordinators, and others. As of now, this will constitute the largest bargaining unit of production workers to organise under The Animation Guild, according to TAG’s announcement. The information was also confirmed by Nickelodeon.
The production workers’ next move will be to enter into contract negotiations with Nickelodeon; no date has yet been scheduled for these discussions. More than 400 artists at Nickelodeon Animation Studios have already joined TAG’s union, and a few production staff members will soon be added to the committee for guild’s studio-specific negotiations.
The organising committee that oversaw the union drive said in a statement, “We are overwhelmingly thrilled. By doing this, the studio has shown that they are willing and ready to recognise the hard work, time, and love we pour into our productions. We are so excited to work with them and our artist colleagues to come to an agreement that reiterates their support for what we do.”
TAG business representative Steve Kaplan said, “I am glad that we were able to reach an agreement where Nickelodeon Animation Studios recognised both the determination of the animation production workers and our long-standing productive labour relations relationship. I look forward to bargaining a successor agreement.”
Nickelodeon Animation Studios executive vice president of production and operations Brian Keane said, “Nickelodeon Animation Studios supports its talented and dedicated production workers who play an instrumental role in the making of our content. The studio’s collaborative relationship with The Animation Guild spans many years, and we look forward to bargaining an agreement with the union covering this new group of employees.”