The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) announced on Monday that a supermajority of the 18 in-house visual effects artists at Walt Disney Pictures have signed cards with their intent to unionize, according to The Wrap.
What’s Happening:
- The move for Disney’s in-house VFX artists to unionize comes two weeks after Marvel Studios artists also sent their petition to the National Labor Relations Board for a unionization vote.
- IATSE, under the direction of lead organizer Mark Patch, is making a concentrated effort to unionize VFX artists, who remain among the few below-the-line workers without union representation.
- These in-house artists have recently worked on some of Disney’s live-action adaptations, such as The Lion King and The Little Mermaid.
- This vote will not include third-party VFX companies that produce the vast majority of work for Disney’s films, however the IATSE hopes that these efforts will encourage those artists to “step forward and demand better wages and working conditions.”
- Voting is underway for the VFX team at Marvel Studios, with the results of the vote set to be announced on September 12th.
- Disney’s VFX team is expected to have its unionization vote within the coming month.