The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) have announced via Twitter that Visual Effects (VFX) crews at Marvel Studios have filed for a unionization election with the National Labor Relations Board.
According to Vulture, this marks the first time visual-effects professionals have banded together to demand the same rights, wage protections, and oversight almost every other segment of the entertainment industry has.
The VFX sector has been largely non-union since the 1970s and the outlet indicates the supermajority of Marvel’s 52-member on-set production crew signed authorization cards to indicate they wish to be represented by IATSE.
IATSE covers the majority of the crew on TV, film, and stage productions in North America, including editors, production designers/art directors, camera operators, sound, editors, make-up, costumes, script supervisors, grips, lighters, prop handlers and more.
VFX organizer for IATSE Mark Patch said in a statement: “This is a historic first step for VFX workers coming together with a collective voice demanding respect for what we do.”
For decades VFX professionals have been unable to claim benefits like paid overtime or health care, and have been subjected to issues such as unrealistic deadlines and labor shortages whilst workloads have increased exponentially.
Though only a small albeit high-profile group, the trade report indicates this is a potential ‘proof of concept’ for the viability of a larger industry-wide unionization push – much like what happened with animators early last year.
