A month ago, fifty visual effects workers in-house at Marvel voted to unionize – marking the first time any VFX workers have unionized with the crafts union (IATSE) in the hope of gaining fair pay, healthcare and a more sustainable working environment.
Today, several Walt Disney Pictures VFX workers joined them – voting in favor of unionization which will see them joining IATSE.
The votes come as VFX artists, one of the few groups in film and TV production not unionized, have been facing increased workloads and tighter deadlines in recent years resulting in longer work hours and brutal work environments. Lack of healthcare in particular is a core issue.
“Tenet” VFX artist Mark Patch has been helping out with these unionization efforts and tells Variety that these votes promise to be the start of more VFX workers seeking union protections:
“We’re organizing more studios which we hope to announce in the coming weeks/months, but the hope is to try and set an industry standard contract for all work. This is not about Marvel or Disney, this is about VFX workers throughout Hollywood and demanding respect for the work that we do.”
These efforts come in the wake of the recent strikes which have invigorated VFX workers to get involved in the push for union representation. IATSE currently represents more than 168,000 technicians, artisans and craftspersons working in movies and TV.
