From e-mails and comments:
Why aren't there any job descriptions in the union contract?
No job descriptions exist in the Collective Bargaining Agreement's pages because the studios have turned down our proposals for job definitions when we've presented them.
So then how do people know what they're supposed to do in the job they get hired for? Couldn't a background artist perform the job of an animation timing director?
There's interchangeability between different jobs in the contract, but if the jobs are paid at different rates, the studio has to follow the pay scales for the specific job.
The way different job classifications are defined is through "long-time custom and practice" (what specific services were performed by an animator, layout artist or storyboarder over a period of years.) ...
Regarding the WB grievances: Steve, it's interesting that whenever you mention what's going on at WBA it's all sunshine and Bugs Bunny. ....
I've never referenced any WB grievances. All I've said here is that we have three different grievances now in work.
Didn't say at which studios, and don't plan to. But feel free to come to membership meetings if you want greater specifics. I talk about grievances in some detail there. I'm not keen on talking about them on the internet.
I dug around the internet and couldn't find it: how do I get a report of my individual account plan? How can I be sure my studio is reporting all my hours?
The Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plan sends out annual statements about 1) Your reported hours for the previous year, 2) The current monthly annuity for the MPIPHP's Defined Benefit Plan, and 3) and the total amount of money in the Individual Account Plan.
Posts
21 comments:
"The way different job classifications are defined is through "long-time custom and practice" (what specific services were performed by an animator, layout artist or storyboarder over a period of years.) ..."
Unfortunately by leaving the job descriptions undefined (ruled only by the vague "long-time custom and practice" ) we now have situations where often the individual jobs of Storyboard Artist, Layout Artist, Prop Designer, and Timing Director have been combined into one job (with only one shrinking paycheck) because of how studios are now expecting 'board artists to turn in very clean boards in the form of timed-out animatic reels , with very clean, detailed storyboard panels that can be used as layouts once the show is shipped overseas to be animated.
And if we allow this to keep happening then pretty soon that way of doing things will be the accepted "long-time custom and practice" . I know young board artists today who have never really known anything different , so maybe we're there already and only those of us over 40 will sadly remember the days when a Storyboard artist did storyboards, period. (and worked a 40 hour week , with overtime pay that kicked in after 40 hours ... nowadays to do all that extra work it has become the commonly "accepted practice" to work unpaid OT to meet the crazy production schedules which are made all the more difficult by the demand for very clean boards which are functionally layouts. )
This only stops when we all collectively say NO and as a group we define what is acceptable "long-time custom and practice" .
The jobs you name are all paid at the same minimum rate -- currently $1,596.64 for a 40-hour week.
So if an artist is doing multiple jobs as described above, he isn't being negatively impacted.
If you haven't been getting annual mail statements about your pension and or IAP, it may because the Plans don't have your current address.
Call them at (818) 769-0007 x627 - out of Southern Cal it's (888) 369-2007 - and check to see if they have your address right. If not, download the Change of Address form, fill it out and send it in.
Wow,
"So if an artist is doing multiple jobs as described above, he isn't being negatively impacted."
Multiple jobs, multiple deadlines, multiple meetings, multiple supervisors, multiple stress just to make the mortgage because the people we pay to watch this does the most minimum job possible.
I don't know if the phones have gotten better but could luck getting any info with out a huge run around.
"So if an artist is doing multiple jobs as described above, he isn't being negatively impacted."
He is if it takes 80 hours to do the multiple jobs and he only charges for 40 hours. That's a negative payment of $1,596.64. Not to mention the extremely negative impact it has on an artist who doesn't have a job at all. Artists who work an extra 40 hours for free just to suck up and keep their jobs are also screwing some fellow artist out of a job entirely.
Way to go, team.
People who are happy working 80 hours for $1,596.64 are actually earning a whopping $19.95 an hour.
All those rodents out there who donate 40 hours a week to the cause are screwing themselves out of $83,025.28 a year (and that's just at straight time, not time-and-a-half overtime!). And that's just one artist. If there are ten other cheese eaters doing the same thing, just to keep up with the other guy, that's $830,252.80 they're donating to the executive bonus fund. And if this goes on at just four studios, that's $3,321,011.20 NOT going into the artists' pockets, with 83,200 hours NOT being credited to the pension plan, NOT benefiting the Individual Account Plan, NOT benefiting the Health Plan, NOT benefiting Social Security.
Unions and Guilds were created to protect artists and workers from being ripped off by employers. If it wasn't for the unions and guilds, artists would be getting $8.00 an hour with NO pension, NO health benefits, NO Individual Account Plan. The total collective contributions to these plans benefit us all. These are wonderful benefits that are important to a lot of people and these cheaters are doing their damnedest to sabotage it.
What the hell is wrong with them? These vermin are undermining the entire system.
No wonder Social Security is running short. No wonder people are cashing in their 401k.
By the time they're eligible for retirement they'll be 85.
For those of you who work an honest 40-hour week and know someone who works an extra 40 hours for free, have a talk with them. Because they're stealing a lot of contributions to your benefits, too.
Real hard hitting questions there, thanks for keeping me informed. Especially the part about the studios downing down our proposals.
And the pro-Piracy thieves crawl out of the dark holes to make their case for why piracy is good.
Anyone in this industry that defends piracy should be ashamed of themselves.
The only reason this Union exists is because the studios let us exist. We are nothing more than a pension plan collector of information and health benefits signatory to the insurance company that includes us as a group. Oh, and also a negotiator of minimum wage standards, so that the studio can demand we take 10% more so they can keep us on call for mandatory free overtime. Which effectively, causes us to make less than minimum wage of union standard.
At WHAT points, can we COLLECTIVELY stand to so NO? We cannot strike at any given moment of management-idiot conflict, so exactly what can we do and when?
People who are happy working 80 hours for $1,596.64 are actually earning a whopping $19.95 an hour.
They shouldn't be working for that weekly wage if they're working more hours. If they're working $1,596.64/ 40-hour week under the TAG contract, and they work 60 (as an example) they get $2,793.77. (This assumes twenty additional hours at time and a half.)
I go through studios daily, asking people about issues, overtime, etc. When people tell me they are working uncompensated overtime, I immediately offer to file a grievance.
I also tell people to fill out time-cards accurately. (Some individuals do, others don't.) If they don't fill out time cards accurately, they are violating the law.
It's easy---just crap the work out. It's not as though the executives running the show are going to notice.
"The jobs you name are all paid at the same minimum rate -- currently $1,596.64 for a 40-hour week.
So if an artist is doing multiple jobs as described above, he isn't being negatively impacted"
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Not if they're doing all those jobs mentioned , but only being paid for one . The extra hours in the week it takes to do all that extra work that is now becoming the accepted "custom and practice" amounts to working free overtime to accomplish all the extra duties.
But you knew what I was getting at , right ? Other people who commented further down totally understood. (see comment by Anonymous, Tuesday, August 24, 2010 9:58:00 AM )
Not if they're doing all those jobs mentioned , but only being paid for one ...
If they're being paid for 40 hours, yet working 80 or 120 hours without additional compensation, then yes. I would agree they are being negatively impacted.
In that situation, I would file a grievance.
The only reason this Union exists is because the studios let us exist.
Yes, that's exactly why the studios fought tooth and nail to keep unions out of the industry decades ago, and why over the years they fought tooth and nail to keep the union from getting pensions and our health benefits and wage minimums, and why non-union studios today fight tooth and nail to stay non-union.
It's seems like half of our membership is pissed that they can't go on strike any time they're angry, and the other half is afraid to speak up even when they're being pressured to work ungodly amounts of unpaid overtime. The angry half is pissed at the TAG staff for not being militant and confrontational enough, and the passive half wants problems to magically get solved without anyone needing to stick their necks out.
Ironical, ain't it.
Yes, Ironical, but you cant blame individuals on the inside for turning blue-collar once they are in. They suddenly become dependant on that next-week check. Imagine what the wife would say when he comes home to find out that he got the boot for standing up for him and his coworkers. There has to be a way, sane and respectful, and with informative facts and tactics behind the workers, that would make the management take heed to our value. We are the ones making the picture. It is hard work. Its a priveledge to be chosen to do so, but the line has to be drawn so that the individuals aren't stressed and hurting because inappropriate demands are hoisted around. A job is a job, and thats all that this is. Its just a fr*ckin job. It is great public relations in how management wants to make it (animation and the 'magic' of making it)appear to the general public, but when it comes to between me and them, it is a job. A big job and a very important job, of course. With all due respect, I am grateful for any job I've had, have or will ever have. But the business of it all is, is that its just a job. So, how can we sensibly organize this line of thought so that we dont come off as radical idiots, like other forums seem to do, and actually do some good while we help to put this wrecked economy back together?
And thanks for the response to my input, I wouldnt expect anything but pablum from the higher ups. Only because they know the game better than I ever will, but I, and some others, do have an intuitive sense that something can be done favorably for the members of this Union that would have a lasting effect.
"I also tell people to fill out time-cards accurately. (Some individuals do, others don't.) If they don't fill out time cards accurately, they are violating the law."
I've filled out my timecards accurately before, studios didn't like that though, because they had to pay OT, so now we have to ask ahead of time to work OT.
And whomever you are, thanks for asking the questions that needed to be asked.
There has to be a way, sane and respectful, and with informative facts and tactics behind the workers, that would make the management take heed to our value.
That's all well and good in theory, but in my practical experience (18 years in this business, and a few years in a few other businesses), theory and reality aren't even close neighbors on this subject. Studios and managers that get it, get it. You don't need to do any tactics or convincing. And those that don't get it, don't get it because they don't care, or are willing to take what they think is the shortest route to hitting their next goal.
If you're not willing to stand up and either fight, or quit, then you will regularly be abused. The union can help you stand up, but they can't do it for you. At least that's been my experience.
And to the anonymous two posts above, if you're not authorized to work OT without permission, then you and your coworkers need to leave the job at the end of your regular hours. Federal law says that if you work OT, you're owed the money for that OT, whether you got official permission or not. So do your company a favor, and help them not violate federal labor law. If it's a job worth keeping, they'll thank you for it.
Abuse comes in many forms. It doesnt have to be blatant. I once heard of a person coming out of his office swearing "These people (us artists) are making too much money!!!!"
Hows THAT for putting the workers on edge?
The information that the Union puts out through this blog is amazing. Some of us are wanting to help put pieces of the puzzle in place. The questions we are asking have to do with the pieces and how they can be found to fit in the puzzle. Your experience is valuable, and you may be able to stand up for yourself, but we come from all walks of life, often vastly different than yours. So if the management bypasses you for unpaid overtime and comes to me or my sister because he knows you wont do it and I wont speak up, then theres a problem a lot larger than just me. See?
... but you cant blame individuals on the inside for turning blue-collar once they are in. They suddenly become dependant on that next-week check.
I can blame them for being part of the problem. Sure, I've been afraid to stand up and say no, but I'm also properly motivated once I've been violated a few times. "Guys, I can't tell you to stay, but it *HAS* to get done! I mean .. it *HAS* to!" How many times have I had to breathe that line in? I had to sit and wonder what my would-be wife would say, after another 85-100 hour week for the same pay I was getting when the project started. "Its like I told you before hun .. its the way the industry works. Its 'crunch time' ". Even I find that hard to swallow now.
There has to be a way, sane and respectful, and with informative facts and tactics behind the workers, that would make the management take heed to our value.
...
It is hard work. Its a priveledge to be chosen to do so,
...
A job is a job, and thats all that this is. Its just a fr*ckin job.
Yep .. that pretty much sums it up. Its a job and they're doing what they can to get it done. They're protecting themselves as should you. The only one that needs to believe in your value .. is YOU! Everyone else will follow your lead. If you're being mistreated, leave. If you're of value to them, they will change their behavior. If they have another schlub in the wings to sit in your chair, why stay and help them out while abusing yourself. Be part of the solution and stand for yourself.
I wish I had the opportunity to work at a union shop and feel good about the artists around me. As it stands now, I'll suffer the stares and piercing glances as I make my way out after the 10 hour day I agreed to, when all the other guys are "being team players" and working their 12 to 16 .. and not getting any extra pay for it.
In case you haven't figured it out, studios like docile employees. The ones who ask questions are quickly viewed by production and directors as 'difficult' to work with. I know an artist who stuck his neck out and his director 'took it personal.' The director took him off his regular crew. What a 'mature' way to handle it.
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