Jun 3, 2022

The Simpsons," "Family Guy," and "American Dad!" production workers. Apply to join the Animation Guild

"The Simpsons," "Family Guy," and "American Dad! production workers of "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," and "American Dad!" have applied to join the Animation Guild (TAG), IATSE Local 839, and have begun collective bargaining for their first union contract. The move follows a request for voluntary recognition by a super majority of the production workers of these programs, filed on May 26, 2022. [According to TAG, attorneys representing the organizations that employ these workers responded to the request by stating that the production company's parent company, The Walt Disney Company's 20th Television Animation, is not yet ready to voluntarily approve all units as TAG has proposed. It stated that it was not yet ready to voluntarily approve all units as proposed by TAG and asked for additional time to consider the proposal. Disney itself has not issued a statement.

Going forward - Since Disney has not granted voluntary recognition, production workers on three shows have filed union election petitions with the National Labor Review Board (NLRB): on June 1 for "The Simpsons," "American Dad! filed yesterday, and "Family Guy" filed today. [The Simpsons" filed on June 1, "American Dad! filed yesterday, and "Family Guy" filed today. Workers represented in the unionization drive include production managers, production supervisors, production coordinators, assistant scriptwriters, production assistants, associate producers, office assistants, and IT supervisors. supervisors, and IT supervisors.

The Big Picture Earlier this year, the production staff of "Rick and Morty," "Solar Opposites," and "Titmouse L.A." became the first representatives of the Animation Guild in Los Angeles. At the time, we predicted that this move might spark a new wave of unionization of production workers throughout the Los Angeles animation industry, which seems to be continuing today.

At the end of May, after months of negotiations, the Animation Guild reached a preliminary agreement with the Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance on a new contract representing all animation workers in TAG. For a more detailed timeline of the Animation Guild's milestones over the past few months, check out our coverage of this announcement.

Workers' Voices Ashley Cooper, Production Manager for The Simpsons (2005-2016, 2018-present), says:

Many of the production staff are trained artists or have BFAs. [We] rely on that education and training to do our job: ...... It is time for us to be included in TAG so that we can have the same quality healthcare, pension, and compensation transparency that our peers currently enjoy."

Since 2009, he has been "American Dad! 's Animation and Timing Production Supervisor, Jason Jones, adds, "We've been working on this project since 2009. Even though we work the same tight deadlines and the same long hours, we (realize) that we don't share the same basic protections as the artists we spend that time with. We deserve the same respect and dignity as our union-protected fellow workers.

Family Guy's Design Production Assistant (2019-present) Andee Kiraly explained:

I chose to organize because I truly love my job and want to improve the quality of my team's working environment. Production positions are often seen as a stepping stone job, but our shows ("Family Guy," "American Dad! and "The Simpsons"), we have production crews that have been here for 10, 15 years or more. These are not stepping stone jobs. These are careers and deserve to be treated as such.