The Board of Directors of Animation Guild defends the terms of the agreement while certain members criticize the contract

The Board of Directors of Animation Guild welcomes its agreement in principle with Hollywood studios after a handful of members of the negotiation committee announced on social networks that they would vote not to ratify it.

The Board of Directors said on Wednesday in a message addressed to its members that it voted in favor of the ratification of the provisional agreement concluded with the alliance of film and television producers on November 22. “We believe that this agreement is the strongest contract ever signed. The union has negotiated significant improvements in the profession in the past decade, substantial salary increases and new crucial protections, “the council wrote in its press release. “The board of directors supports the agreement because the members of the Guild as a whole will greatly benefit from its conditions, in all trades. »»

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Citing a “misleading media” not specified on a “small minority” which does not support the agreement, the board of directors noted that the “table team” of the negotiation committee which directly met the AMPTP, An “overwhelming majority” – more than 90 percent – voted for the agreement and recommended its ratification.

The Animation Guild negotiation committee, made up of 56 members, includes 29 members of this “table team” as well as 27 members who were part of a “support team” who helped develop and bring Adjustments to proposals, but did not vote on the agreement in principle.

This declaration comes after a few members of this broader negotiation committee – one of the table team and two of the support team – expressed on social networks that they voted “no” to the agreement. Mitchell against machines The screenwriter-director Mike Rianda, the screenwriter Joey Clift (Paw Patrol, Spirit Rangers) And My little pony: make your brand The writer Kelly Lynne d’Angelo published on Tuesday that they had personally decided not to support the ratification of the agreement, all citing concerns about the provisions of the contract in principle on the generative AI.

On December 3, Spencer Rothbell, member of the negotiation committee support team, also published on X and Blusky that “the contract is low in terms of protection against the use of AI and subcontracting, Among other things ”. He noted that there were gains on elements such as wages and benefits, but added that “the structures of use of AI do not inspire much confidence (for example, they seem very exploitable). The same goes for vague/flexible language on social benefits, return to work and new media. Certainly some faults.

“Generative AI is a complex and deeply worrying question for our industry, and we recognize the passion and apprehension it has aroused among our members,” the board of directors wrote in its press release. “We are absolutely determined to protect our industry. It is also important to understand that union contracts alone cannot solve this problem, as shown by recent contracts from other entertainment unions with workforce and a much greater weight than ours. The Board of Directors argued that the path to follow would include provisions on generative AI in its contracts as well as the application of contracts, the unionization of new workplaces, legislation, tax incentives and “support public at work created by man ”.

The group concluded: “This balance progress and lever effect contract, raising challenges and generating significant gains on which we have been working for years in many contractual cycles. We are convinced that our members will see this as an important step forward and will vote yes to ratify the agreement.

The union ratification process began on Tuesday and will end on December 22. In an interview granted Tuesday to Hollywood journalistSteve Kaplan, commercial representative of The Animation Guild, said that it could be potentially “dangerous” not to ratify the contract, which would refer negotiators to the table for a potentially rapid additional negotiation process which could risk losing some gains under the preexisting contract. Agreement and/or a strike, which could “exacerbate an already established practice consisting in moving work to incentives which would be out of reach of the agreement”.

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(Tagstotranslate) Agreement in principle