Animation Guild Local 839 and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers have agreed to a new deal that hikes minimum salaries by 2 percent a year.
The tentative contract, which has been in the works since May, will take effect Aug. 1 if approved by the union’s members, reports Variety.
The deal’s terms also call for an increase of 1.5 percent in employers’ contributions to the union’s health and pension plan, while increasing the number of hours employees are required to work to keep their health insurance benefits.
While the deal is based on the deal the Alliance, which represents the major studios, struck with below-the-line workers in the IATSE West Coast union. That deal calls for a 3 percent annual pay increase, which the studios would not match for animators, Steve Hulett, business agent for Local 839, told Variety.
“We didn’t have major, huge leverage,” he said.
Animation Guild Local 839, which is part of the IATSE union, covers about 2,000 Hollywood animators.
