The BASIC Agreement..

...is the Collective Bargaining Agreement that the Animation Guild CBA keys off of.

 

The wage bump-ups the Basic Agreement ends up with, TAG ends up with.  The wage and pension package that's in the Basic?  That's what TAG gets too.  Mostly.  Usually.

 

What TAG is likely to end up with is wage and benefit package increases that are around 4.6% for each of the three years of the contract.  That's what the IATSE -- our Mother International -- negotiated back in December (see below.)

 

The membership of the IA's West Coat Locals which are part of the bargaining unit --30,000 strong -- are now voting for or against the Basic Agreement.  But there's some trouble, as exemplified by Tuesday's HOLLYWOOD REPORTER headline:

 

IATSE dissidents take aim

 

Members in 'full-bore war' over proposed deal

 

Calls to "vote no" permeated the 20th annual American Society of Cinematographers Awards on Sunday as members of IATSE Local 600 continued their unprecedented effort to defeat the Hollywood Basic Agreement over the objections of IATSE President Tom Short...

 

"A 'no' vote will simply force the negotiators back to the bargaining table to come up with a fair contract that is acceptable to our members," according to a flier distributed at the ASC's show in Century City...

 

Sources say Short has thrown down the gauntlet by telling members, in a letter accompanying the ballots, that a "no" vote is a vote to strike...

 

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TAG's negotiations could well end at the same time the votes on the IA Basic Agreement are being counted.  The final tally for the BASIC Agreement is to be announced on March 9th.

 

We live in interesting times, no?