EXCLUSIVE: DNEG workers could unionize in Canada.
IATSE Canada is in the process of forging branches in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec at the under-fire VFX firm, which recently made a pay offer to workers that has ruffled feathers around the globe.
If formed, IATSE reps plan on beginning collective bargaining negotiations with DNEG bosses that will see an agreement struck for the next two-to-four years in areas such as pay, welfare and time off, rep Jeremy Salter told Deadline. He said hundreds of workers have requested rep cards but it may be too late for IATSE to intervene in the current pay offer, which Deadline revealed several weeks ago.
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The Dune and Oppenheimer VFX firm’s pay offer is seeing thousands of staff from around the world being asked to take cuts of between 20% and 25% of their salary for seven months depending on salary (a higher percentage for those paid more) or, for those who can’t afford the cuts, there is an option of being given a larger cut but then loaned back the majority. Since Deadline’s story, DNEG has offered a third option to “spread the effect of the salary reduction over a longer period of time,” according to a spokesman for the company. DNEG has laid the blame at the foot of the economic crisis and dual labor strikes.
Salter said unionizing will prevent any “drastic change of workforce conditions” in the future while he hopes the union can “support workers” through the current back and forth.
In order to unionize, more than half of workers will need to sign rate cards in Quebec, 40% in Ontario and 55% in British Columbia. The process began around two weeks ago.
IATSE U.S. hadn’t responded to Deadline’s request for comment over whether DNEG will unionize in the States by press time but the news comes at a crucial time for VFX labor, with VFX workers at Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel having voted to unionize in the past couple of weeks. In the UK, broadcasting union Bectu has been supporting DNEG workers and held a Zoom call several weeks ago to explain their rights.
Despite the WGA strike being resolved, the DNEG spokesman said “this won’t immediately impact our business.”
“The agreement represents exciting news for the industry and we hope that the SAG negotiations will soon follow suit, so that productions can begin again,” he added.
“The WGA news is a step forward, and we are hopeful that there are more to come soon. Our industry will rebound, and when it does, we intend to be ready with the talent, experience, and tenure that our clients have come to expect from DNEG.”
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