Slashdot Mirror

What it really is, if you read their "charter", is a price-fixing scheme for headhunters. They "agree" that they should get 20% of the first year's salary, payable at hiring time.

There's a real union for game developers - the Animation Guild, local 839, IATSE, AFL-CIO. They represent most of the animation people in Hollywood, and they're organizing game developers who are artists.

What it really is, if you read their "charter", is a price-fixing scheme for headhunters. They "agree" that they should get 20% of the first year's salary, payable at hiring time.

There's a real union for game developers - the Animation Guild, local 839, IATSE, AFL-CIO. They represent most of the animation people in Hollywood, and they're organizing game developers who are artists.

For EA Redwood City, IATSE Local 16 has jurisdiction. Here's the union contract for Industrial Light and Magic, whose CGI employees are represented by IATSE Local 16, San Francisco.

Some key clauses:

• The basic five day workweek for this computer graphics unit is 45 hours (40 hours of straight time and 5 hours of (1.5 times rate) overtime. This workweek is a flexible one, allowing the employee to work as many as 12 hours in a day without additional pay as long as the aggregate hours worked in the five day period does not exceed 45. Hours worked in excess of 12 in one day or 45 in the five day workweek will be compensated at 1.5 times the hourly rate. All overtime beyond 9 hours in any day or 45 hours in any week must be expressly pre-approved by the employee's supervisor. Any employee who works more than five (5) days out of any seven (7) consecutive days shall be compensated (i) for time worked on the sixth day at a rate not less than one and one-half times the hourly rate for the classification of the employee and (ii) for time worked on the seventh day at a rate not less than two times the hourly rate for the classification of tfie employee.

IATSE also represents Dreamworks SKG employees, who work in the same building complex as EA Redwood City, doing very similar jobs.

An IATSE organizer can be found at most Bay Area SIGGRAPH meetings. The links above will take you to the union web sites.

For EA Redwood City, IATSE Local 16 has jurisdiction. Here's the union contract for Industrial Light and Magic, whose CGI employees are represented by IATSE Local 16, San Francisco.

Some key clauses:

• The basic five day workweek for this computer graphics unit is 45 hours (40 hours of straight time and 5 hours of (1.5 times rate) overtime. This workweek is a flexible one, allowing the employee to work as many as 12 hours in a day without additional pay as long as the aggregate hours worked in the five day period does not exceed 45. Hours worked in excess of 12 in one day or 45 in the five day workweek will be compensated at 1.5 times the hourly rate. All overtime beyond 9 hours in any day or 45 hours in any week must be expressly pre-approved by the employee's supervisor. Any employee who works more than five (5) days out of any seven (7) consecutive days shall be compensated (i) for time worked on the sixth day at a rate not less than one and one-half times the hourly rate for the classification of the employee and (ii) for time worked on the seventh day at a rate not less than two times the hourly rate for the classification of tfie employee.

IATSE also represents Dreamworks SKG employees, who work in the same building complex as EA Redwood City, doing very similar jobs.

An IATSE organizer can be found at most Bay Area SIGGRAPH meetings. The links above will take you to the union web sites.

>the Motion Picture and Television Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California

that sounded fake (the idea of an old folks home for tv stars), so I looked it up - sure enough...

http://www.mpsc839.org/_Benefits/Benefits_h/gethel p.HTM

The Motion Picture and Television Fund was founded in 1921 by a group of Hollywood industry pioneers such as Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, will Rogers, Cecil B. DeMille and Irving Thalberg. The MPTF opened the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills in 1940. They operate health centers in Woodland Hills, Toluca Lake, Hollywood, West Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, staffed by physicians recently rated #1 in southern California by Blue Cross.

also came across obits on Kelly (honestly didn't know he had died)
http://obits.com/kelleydeforest.htm
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,4899,00.html

I was surprised to learn that he was in a bunch of westerns before doing trek:

Prior to donning the blue shirt that was the sign of a Starfleet medical officer, Kelley wore another kind of uniform--a cowboy get-up. He worked extensively in TV westerns of the 1950s and '60s, piling up credits on shows such as Rawhide, The Virginian and Zane Grey Theater.

How long do you think it would take Disney to setup a Pixar knock-off?

Much longer than they'd be comfortable with. Disney's seen this coming for a LONG time. They bought out DreamQuest back in 1999 for their Secret Lab computer FX unit, and put the animators to work on Dinosaur to capitalize on the 3D trend. Much of that unit was laid off in 2001.

Interestingly enough, there were charges, even then, that Disney was attempting to circumvent the Animator's Union (formerly the Motion Pictures Screen Cartoonists Local 839) by classifying the 3D animators working on Dinosaur as special effect computer operators - who got paid less, and who weren't covered under the union contract.

Basically, Disney's problem isn't technology, or even the quality of animation. Disney's problem is producing stories that will get people to plunk down $9 to go see a movie - REPEATEDLY. That's the definition of a blockbuster in the movie business today, and ain't what Disney's been delivering.

It would hurt he group as a whole because those doing more work can not be compensated for it.

Umm... No. Union minimums are just that - minimums. They set the floor at what someone can be paid - not the ceiling. In animation, the union minimum for a lead animator is about $1500 per week. Back in the mid-nineties, hotshots like Glenn Keane were reportedly signed to million-dollar personal contracts. Obviously, they recognized that he had superior talent and name power, and compensated accordingly.

Do your research before joining up with a union - they're not all the same. In particular, look for one that knows technology and has already organized tech workers. If you're not convinced, keep in mind that many unions provide pension coverage and health benefits that are portable (think Actors Guild, and a host of many other entertainment unions).

All it takes is enough people signing union rep cards, and the employer will be forced to negotiate by the Federal Board of Labor Relations. Given this bunch is already ready to walk out, unionization is a realistic alternative. The downside? Well, if you unionize, and are blacklisted as a union agitator, you might have trouble finding work elsewhere in the industry if they aren't unionized... That's why the union rep cards and unionization votes are supposed to be secret.

There is no unionization in the animation industry, and Nickelodeon means to keep it that way.

I guess nobody told these guys this.