FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
about labor unions and games developers
illustrated by Tom Sito
What is the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees? What can it do for me?
Why are the IATSE and its Guilds and Unions working to organize games developers?
Who gets to decide what goes into the Guild contract with my employer?
My employer offers perfectly fine health benefits. Why do you think yours are better?
Which IATSE Guild will I be joining?
If the Guild successfully negotiates a contract, will I have to pay initiation fees and dues?
Q: What is the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employes? What can it do for me?
A: The International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE for short) is a labor organization that's been around almost 120 years. It represents over 117,000 film and stage workers in the U.S. and Canada including cinematographers (The Cinematographers Guild), animation artists and tech directors (The Animation Guild), art directors (The Art Directors Guild), editors (The Editors Guild) and such other crafts as costumers, grips, live action board artists, and lighting technicians. If it's a "below-the-line" job in the movie, television or theater business, the people who work at it belong to the IATSE.
We do for our members what every labor organization does: negotiate wage floors and working conditions, provide pension and health benefits, act as an advocate for our members and file grievances over disputes between employees and their employers.
Q: Why are the IATSE and its guilds working to organize games developers?
A: We are collecting representation cards because many games artists have asked us to do so, and because organizing is what labor unions and guilds do.
Q: Why are you organizing each company individually? Wouldn't it make more sense to sign up all the games developers at once?
A: In a perfect world, of course it would be simpler, easier, better. But guess what? It's not a perfect world.
If a lot of games developers were organized and some weren't, there would be an impetus for new signator employers to agree to bargain jointly. For example, almost all of the major movie and animation studios (such as Disney, DreamWorks, Sony, Warner Bros., Cartoon Network, Fox, etc.) negotiate with the IATSE and its unions and guilds under what the lawyers call "multi-employer bargaining units".
But the IATSE is starting at the ground floor with games developers. Federal laws about collective bargaining say that joint bargaining is not a "mandatory subject for bargaining." Simply put, if a new employer insists on negotiating separately from other employers, they can. And unless we want to go on strike or abandon bargaining to try to force them to do otherwise, we have little choice in the matter. It's all about leverage. You either have a lot of it or you don't. (Usually it's somewhere between "not much" and "a whole lot.")
We've talked to the people we've organized about what they want in their first contract, and the consensus has been to "get in on the ground floor" with industry-standard wages and benefits, and to give the IATSE the authority to enforce overtime and working rules and to represent artists in employer disputes. To walk into negotiations with a demand that all games developers negotiate jointly with us would divert our energies from what the great majority of artists have told us should be our most important objectives.
Q: What are the steps to organizing my employer?
A: The first step is to research the company, contact employees, develop internal networks with those employees and build lines of communication so everyone is on the same page. That's Phase One.
Phase Two is to collect representation cards from over 50% of each company's employees so that we can show the National Labor Relations Board that there is a "showing of interest" among company employees for Guild representation.
The next step is to contact the employer and see if they are willing to proceed with a card count by a neutral third party, and then enter into negotiations for a Collective Bargaining Agreement. If the company is agreeable, we'll have a third-party card count and then negotiations.
If they are not agreeable, then we'll have a National Labor Relations Board-supervised secret-ballot election, with all employees in the bargaining unit eligible to vote. If the Guild wins that election, then we will sit down and negotiate toward a contract.
Q: The CEO denies that he's against the union because he wants to save money -- he says it would save him money to go union.
A: Stop and think about this. If it were true that employers can save money by going union, why wouldn't the company urge its employees to sign rep cards? Seems to us that the CEO would be signing a Guild contract now. So why isn't he doing this? Good business practices would demand it, wouldn't they?
Or could it be that management doesn't want you to know how much money they're saving by not having a Guild contract?
Q: My production manager says the guilds will take away my right to speak for myself and to make my own deals with management.
A: No. If employees want to speak for themselves, we stand on the sidelines and let them talk without our assistance. But if employees feel they need a champion, we're there to assist. It's that simple.
Q: My supervisor says that before the company signs a Guild contract, they'll just close down and send everything to Redwood City/Orlando/Mumbai.
A: It's essential that you know your rights, and Federal law is clear: your employer does not have the right to threaten you or your job if you vote for the union. Nor, for that matter, is it legal for a labor union to threaten you to get you to vote in its favor.
Any such management threats should immediately be reported, either to the Guild or directly to the National Labor Relations Board:
National Labor Relations Board, Region 31
James J. McDermott, Regional Director
11150 Olympic Blvd., Room 700
Los Angeles, CA 90064-1824
(310) 235-7352
Q: The main problem with my employer is that it's top-heavy with management. If the union could convince them to get rid of all the production managers and vice-presidents, and not be so nasty to the artists, everything would be cool.
A: Many games artists have spoken to us of their frustration with management attitudes and office politics: the insanely long hours, the down time where you sit at your console waiting for work. We'll be honest: these problems will not instantly vanish if your employer signs with the Guild. If a company is run badly, a Guild contract may or may not force them to adopt better business practices, but it will protect you from the repercussions of their current way of doing things.
Tom Sito, a veteran animator and story artist (also President Emeritus of the Animation Guild), likes to refer to an IATSE/ Guild contract as "don't-mess-with-my-life" insurance. We can't guarantee that under a Guild contract you won't still be faced with intransigent supervisors, unrealistic quotas, long hours, stale bagels and bad parking. But once we have a contract in place you will have someone with the clout to face up to management when these or other problems arise.
Q: Who gets to decide what goes into the Guild contract with my employer?
A: YOU DO. We will recruit employee volunteers to serve alongside Guild representatives on the Negotiating Committee that will draft the contract demands based on employee input. This Committee will negotiate directly with your employer. We will hold frequent meetings so the Committee members can update employees on the progress of the talks.
When negotiations are complete, the Committee will present the contract to the employees, with their recommendation to vote it up or down.
Q: I've seen the Guild rates, and I make more money than that. Why should I agree to a Guild contract with lower pay?
A: Almost every collective bargaining agreement (that's "guild contract") that the IATSE and its guilds negotiate contains this language:
The rates of pay now being received by any employee shall not be decreased by reason of the execution of this Agreement.
Every condition that is set in the Guild contract is a minimum, including the minimum rates of pay.
If you're paid less than the Guild minimums, your pay will go up when the contract is signed. If you make more, not only will your current rate of pay not go down, but the contract will set a "floor" that will protect you against future wage reductions.
Q: My employer offers perfectly fine health benefits. Why do you think yours are better?
A: Here's a list:
Q: Our company has an employer-matched 401(k) plan, and I understand that the IATSE/Guild's 401(k) Plan doesn't even have a match. So how can you say yours is a better pension plan?
A: Because while your employer may only offer one pension (if even that), we have three:
Like the Guild's health insurance (see above), the pension and IAP are entirely employer-funded (no money comes out of your paycheck). Although the 401(k) Plan is not employer-matched, it's more than made up for by the contributions that Guild-shop employers make into the Pension and IAP. (Fact: although 80% of 401(k) Plans in the United States have some sort of match, the average match is... $980 per year.) And unlike non-union employer 401(k) contributions, the money the employer puts unto your pension and IAP is Federally insured and cannot be withdrawn. Once you are "vested" (which happens after one qualified year for the IAP and five qualified years for the pension), your pension and IAP are guaranteed at the age of retirement.
The "defined benefit"
pension is based on the total number of qualified years and hours that you
worked in the industry. The more years and hours you work, the higher your
monthly check at the time you retire. The IAP and 401(k) are paid as a single
lump-sum payment or "roll-over" at the time of retirement. You
get out what you put in, plus interest, and the IAP gives you a percentage
of the "pot" (residuals, supplemental markets, etc.)
The subject of our pension, IAP and 401(k) Plans is too complex for this brief summary. For further details on the pension and IAP, check out the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plan website at http://www.mpiphp.org; and for 401(k) Plan details go to http://www.mpsc839.org and click on the Benefits tab.
Q: Which IATSE guild will I be joining?
A: For almost all job categories, the designation of which IATSE local has jurisdiction is pretty clear. Animation artists and tech directors join the Animation Guild, while other artists join the Art Directors Guild. Picture and sound editors belong to the Editors Guild; camera people join the Cinematographers Guild.
In any cases where there might be some question as to which local should have jurisdiction, the IATSE will make the decision after consulting with the employees and unions involved.
Q: If the IATSE/Guilds successfully negotiate a contract, will I have to pay initiation fees and dues?
A: If the Guild reaches agreement on a contract with your non-union employer, initiation fees and all outstanding monies owed will be waived for all employees covered by that contract. The only money that artists will have to pay will be the quarterly dues, which range according to the classification in which they work. (Dues are tax deductible as a business expense.)
Q: I don't know anyone who belongs to a guild or union. I read that four out of every five employees in the United States workforce choose not to belong to a union.
A: Oh, it's worse than that. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 13% of the American workforce is unionized, which explains why real wages have declined over the past three decades. But in the L. A. movie and animation industry, 85% of the workforce is unionized, which explains why here, wages are generally higher. No reason you can't join the majority and improve your life.
Q: Okay, I'm sold. What do I do next?
A: Sign a representation card and send it to:
Remember that your representation card is CONFIDENTIAL; it will only be seen by the union and (if necessary) the National Labor Relations Board.
Contact Gavin Koon and/or any of the reps listed below if you have any questions:
With your help, we'll be on the way to organizing your employer and bringing you the benefits of being an IATSE member and working under a Guild contract.