The Animation Guild reached agreement with the AMPTP at 11:00 p.m. on a new, three-year agreement that will run from August 1st, 2015 to July 31st, 2018.
The deal follows the contours of the 2015 IATSE Basic Agreement, which includes:
* 3% increases to contract wage minimums (compounded).
* Unchanged Health Benefits (no increases to $25/$50 per month premiums).
* 10% increase in pension benefits for individuals retiring after August 1, 2015.
* An updated New Media Side Letter.
There were no rollbacks in wage minimums, and TAG negotiated higher contribution hours for storyboard artists working under "unit rates", as well as improved hours for freelance timing directors.
Contract talks started on Monday and continued until late Wednesday night. Negotiations are never a walk through a flower-filled meadow, but this contract session was less rancorous than the 2012 talks, and achieved better results. The negotiation committee, which included President Jack Thomas and TAG organizer Steve Kaplan, did sterling work in side bar and the "big room." IATSE Vice President Mike Miller greatly assisted the committee on the final day of talks.
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2 comments:
Confidential info from well placed insiders informs me that here in 2015, the Union continues to do a great job for it's members. And they did it as always with no help whatsoever from the likes of chucky z.
This is the most productive (from a labor perspective) negotiation that I have participated in for multiple cycles. We gained improvements for free-lance board artists, as well as free-lance timing directors. Pension benefits were improved, and there were no rollbacks in any wage category, top to bottom.
Kudos to President Jack Thomas, Steve Kaplan, Paula Spence, Dave Chlystek, Jason Mayer, IA Vice President Mike Miller and all the rest of the committee who pushed these talks over the finish line. The Guild did a lot of on-line surveys and held a lot of craft meetings before we went in. You never get all of your heart's desires but you always try to move the ball downfield. In this, the Animation Guild was successful.
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