Netflix Animation Production Workers Ratify First Union Contract After Years Of Organizing

Netflix Animation Studios (NAS) production workers have ratified their first union contract with The Animation Guild, adding another organizing victory to animation’s increasingly unionized production side.

The agreement covers feature production workers at Netflix Animation Studios in Burbank and passed with 89% support among participating voters, according to TAG. Workers first began organizing in 2023 before winning union recognition through an NLRB election at the end of last year, announced in January.

The new contract establishes wage minimums, dismissal pay, and workplace protections for production workers. TAG says the agreement also sets a new high watermark for Production Assistant pay under one of the guild’s production contracts.

TAG organizer Allison Smartt described the contract as part of a larger evolution in animation labor organizing.

Every production group to negotiate has built upon the foundation of those that came before them, and the NAS production contract really showcases that. NAS workers have won the highest Production Assistant rates in any TAG production agreement. In just five years since we organized the first group of animation production workers, this rate sets the highest bar yet, and it wouldn’t have happened without workers fighting together in solidarity

Negotiations took place over two weeks earlier this month, with union representatives characterizing the talks as collaborative for a first contract effort. TAG assistant business representative Chaz Carroll summed up the final bargaining process:

The NAS agreement showcases what can be done when two sides come to the negotiation table with the sole purpose of getting a deal done… Did they get everything they wanted? No, but they got the best deal possible and didn’t leave the table until Netflix addressed the unit’s priorities.”

Workers involved in the organizing campaign said the contract reflected years of frustration over instability in animation production jobs, where layoffs, project cancellations, and shifting studio priorities have become increasingly common. Several workers described the union drive as an effort to create more sustainable long-term careers in animation production and to secure protections that many crews previously lacked. Others pointed to earlier organizing campaigns at studios like DreamWorks, Disney, and Nickelodeon as examples that helped shape Netflix workers’ own efforts.

The ratification follows several other recent organizing wins in animation. Last year, remote artists and production workers on DreamWorks Animation’s Ted voted to unionize with The Animation Guild and The Editors Guild. Both groups are now negotiating first contracts.