DreamWorks Animation Workers Achieve Union Milestones

The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 (TAG), announces two significant milestones this week for DreamWorks Animation workers: the ratification of a first-ever union contract for Production Workers and the unionization of Remote Workers across the United States who contribute to L.A.-based projects.

An overwhelming majority of DreamWorks Production workers voted to ratify their first Collective Bargaining Agreement after nine months of negotiations. With a 92% participation rate, 96% voted to ratify the contract covered by TAG and the Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 700. The new contract delivers key recognitions and protections, including:

• Established wage minimums for job classifications with yearly increases to those minimum rates, including one of the most competitive Production Assistant rates in the industry.
• Substantial reduction in healthcare coverage costs — annual individual health care premium will be zero dollars.
• Guaranteed retirement contributions.
• Additional 6th and 7th day pay for salaried and on call employees.

At the same time, DreamWorks remote employees living throughout the U.S. and working on L.A.– based animation projects have formally declared their intent to unionize with TAG. On September 22, 2025, the unit submitted a request for voluntary recognition to the studio, and on September 25, TAG will file for an NLRB election covering 75 artists and animation workers across both Feature and TV.

This new remote bargaining unit includes job titles currently represented by TAG in the Master Agreement, including: Character Effects Artist; Animator; Technical Director; Lighter; Visual Development Artist; Modeler; Production Coordinator and Supervisor; and more.

“While it is a tremendous privilege to be able to work remotely in the industry I love and alongside people I love, it is unfair to be treated as a second-class employee,” said Anthony Holden, an Oregon-based Story Artist who has worked at DreamWorks for seven years. “Those of us who work remotely do not enjoy the same health care, retirement planning, or other benefits afforded to our co-workers in L.A. County who are covered under collective bargaining agreements.

“For the sake of my own family, and for the sake of any employee — current or future — who might choose to move their family to the place that is right for them, I have chosen to stand with the remote employees of DreamWorks to ask for what is rightfully ours — to be given the same treatment and benefits as our counterparts who work in-studio.”

The Animation Guild, also known as Local 839 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), was founded in 1952. The labor union represents more than 5,000 artists, technicians, writers and production workers in the animation industry, advocating for improved wages and conditions.

animationguild.org