@izzyizumi / izzyizumi.tumblr.com
Some of our readers have been writing in wanting to know what you people look like. Far Beyond The Stars (1998) || STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
Most bittersweet thing I’ve ever learned is that most animation is not affected by the writers strike so we get to keep cartoons, but it’s only because animators aren’t making enough fucking money to even qualify for WGA
Just to clarify here, it’s not that there is some kind of income range where an animator could “qualify” for the WGA; animation writers fall under a different union’s jurisdiction, The Animation Guild or TAG, which it itself under IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, representing many crew members in various departments).
Some TAG people are members of both the WGA and TAG, and TAG is currently honoring the WGA picket lines and picketing with WGA members! Aand to make things more complicated, there are some animated shows covered by the WGA (complicated history here). But the two unions mostly cover different things, and this dates back to the way Hollywood was organized in the early days.
TAG having lower pay rates and weaker union protections are definitely current issues, though, and there is hope that if the actors’ guild (SAG-AFTRA) and the directors’ guild (DGA) strike, we could see some big changes happen with IATSE too. (You may have heard of the averted 2021 IATSE negotiations, when a strike was narrowly averted. They definitely achieved some gains in the negotiations but not TAG/WGA pay parity!)
You can read more about the animation guild wage disparity here, discussing TAG’s 2021 negotiations. At the time they stated “Animation writers make a minimum of $2,064 per week, while WGA weekly minimums range from $4,063 to $5,185"—I think we can all agree that’s an absurd difference when TV writing from animation to live-action is really not that different!
There is also currently a petition to unionize Disney animation production workers who currently do not have TAG membership—please add your name if you haven’t already!
