Animation Guild board defends terms of deal as some members criticize contract

The Animation Guild board is welcoming its tentative deal with Hollywood studios after a handful of negotiating committee members announced on social media they would vote not to ratify it.

The board of directors said in a message to its members on Wednesday that it had voted to ratify the interim agreement reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on November 22. “We believe this agreement is the strongest contract ever signed. The union has negotiated over the past decade for significant improvements to the profession, substantial wage increases and crucial new protections,” the board wrote in its statement. “The Board supports the agreement because Guild members as a whole will greatly benefit from its terms, in all trades. »

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Citing an unspecified “misleading media story” about a “small minority” not supporting the deal, the board noted that the “table team” of the negotiating committee that met directly with the AMPTP, an “overwhelming majority” – more than 90 percent – voted for the agreement and recommended its ratification.

The Animation Guild’s 56-member negotiating committee includes 29 members of this “table team” as well as 27 members who served on a “support team” that helped develop and deliver adjustments to the proposals, but did not vote on the agreement in principle.

This statement comes after a few members of this larger negotiating committee – one from the table team and two from the support team – expressed on social media that they were voting “no” on the deal. Mitchell against the machines writer-director Mike Rianda, screenwriter Joey Clift (PAW Patrol, Spirit Rangers) And My Little Pony: Make Your Mark Writer Kelly Lynne D’Angelo posted Tuesday that they personally decided not to support ratification of the deal, all citing concerns about the tentative contract’s provisions on generative AI.

On December 3, Negotiating Committee Support Team member Spencer Rothbell also posted on X and Blusky that “the contract is weak in terms of protection against the use of AI and outsourcing, among other things.” He noted that there were gains on things like salaries and benefits, but added that “the structures for using AI don’t inspire much confidence (e.g., they seem very usable). the same goes for vague/flexible language on benefits, return to work, and new media. certainly some flaws.

“Generative AI is a complex and deeply concerning issue for our industry, and we recognize the passion and apprehension it has generated among our members,” the board wrote in its statement. “We are absolutely committed to protecting our industry. It’s also important to understand that union contracts alone cannot solve this problem, as recent contracts from other entertainment unions with far greater membership and clout than ours demonstrate. The board argued that the path forward would include provisions for generative AI in its contracts as well as contract enforcement, unionization of new workplaces, legislation, tax incentives and “support public to man-made work.”

The group concluded: “This contract balances progress and leverage, addressing challenges and generating significant gains that we have been working on for years over many contract cycles. We are confident that our members will see this as an important step forward and will vote yes to ratify the agreement.

The union’s ratification process began on Tuesday and will end on December 22. In an interview given Tuesday to The Hollywood ReporterSteve Kaplan, sales representative for The Animation Guild, said it could be potentially “dangerous” not to ratify the contract, which would send negotiators back to the table for a potentially quick additional negotiation process that could risk losing some earnings under the pre-existing contract. agreement and/or a strike, which could “exacerbate an already established practice of moving work to incentive areas that would be outside the scope of the agreement.”

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