Warner Bros. Discovery Management Voluntarily Recognizes Animation Production Workers Unionization Request

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) studio management has agreed to voluntarily recognize Warner Brothers Animation (WBA) and Cartoon Network (CN) production workers’ request to unionize with The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839.

WBA and CN production workers first filed a request for union recognition on July 19 this year. According to a petition launched by the group, they were met with delays and attempts to block production managers from being included in the bargaining unit by studio management.

According to TAG business representative Steve Kaplan, a recent National Labor Relations Board decision regarding production workers unionization efforts at Walt Disney Animation Studios had a significant influence on management’s stance and set a new precedent that studios will have to recognize in the future. Kaplan explained:

After months of discussions with the studio, we were finally able to reach an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery for representation of animation production workers at Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios. The recent Walt Disney Animation Studios NLRB decision regarding the appropriate placement of production managers and production supervisors in a bargaining unit certainly helped the company better understand our demand to include those job classifications, and our long-standing productive relationship helped to forge the agreement we signed. The Animation Guild looks forward to continuing the relationship as we begin to bargain the terms and working conditions of an agreement for the hard-working animation production staff at the two companies.

Cartoon Brew reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery for comment, but has not received a response at time of publishing.

Nearly 90 workers signed the initial National Labor Relations Board request to unionize with TAG, 66 from WBA and 22 from Cartoon Network. The group included production managers, production assistants, IT techs, design production coordinators, and more. Among them were workers from shows including Batman: The Caped Crusader, Harley Quinn, Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, and Craig of the Creek.

Update: The current bargaining unit is now down to 50 members. According to TAG, many in the unit have been laid off since the NLRB petition was submitted and six were removed due to promotions.

When the group voted to unionize, workers cited WBD’s decision to merge the development and production of Cartoon Network Studios and WBA as a major motivating factor in their decision. The workers hoped to present a unified front to protect their jobs and work standards through the merger process. The group also expressed a desire for more competitive wages, benefits, and overtime pay.