Animation Guild Members Rally For Fair Contract In Burbank

deadline.com:

Several hundred Animation Guild members and their supporters rallied today in Burbank, loudly demanding a fair contract from the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.Carrying signs that say “New deal 4 animation” and “Cartoons are serious business,” the rallygoers chanted, “New contract, new deal,” and “TAG United will never be defeated.” Labor and management last met at the bargaining table on March 2, and will resume talks on Tuesday.Steve Kaplan, business rep of The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839, who was supposed to speak at today’s rally, did ot attend because he’s recovering from Covid-19.Speakers at today’s rally included Michael Miller, IATSE’s 4th international vice president, and Jeanette Moreno King, the guild’s president.The guild’s current contact had originally been set to expire last July 29, but has been extended several times to allow the on-again, off-again bargaining to continue.The guild and the AMPTP have agreed to a press blackout on the talks.

But going into the negotiations, leaders of the 5,000-member guild told their members that major issues they intended to raise at the bargaining table included better terms for streaming shows, a significant pay increase for animation writers, and an outsized raise for the guild’s lowest-paid crafts.New and returning series on broadcast, cable and streamingSeries that made it or didn’t make it in 2020-21Broadcast networks’ fall lineups and schedules