The Animation Guild (TAG), IATSE Local 839, announced on Wednesday that remote artists and
animation workers at DreamWorks Animation have declared their intention to form a union.
Earlier this week, staff in areas throughout the United States who work on Los Angeles-based projects submitted a request for voluntary recognition. After which TAG filed for a National Labor Relations Board election covering workers who perform roles like character effects artist, production coordinator, animator and technical director.
“While it is a tremendous privilege to be able to work remotely in the industry I love and alongside people I love, it is unfair to be treated as a second-class employee,” said Anthony Holden, an Oregon-based story artist. “For the sake of my own family, and for the sake of any employee—current or future—who might choose to move their family to the place that is right for them, I have chosen to stand with the remote employees of DreamWorks to ask for what is rightfully ours—to be given the same treatment and benefits as our counterparts who work in-studio.”
AFL-CIO Daily Brief