Animation Guild & AMPTP “Trying To Find Some Common Ground” As Negotiations Restart Next Week

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) is resuming negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers next week in the hopes of finalizing a new three-year deal before the contract expires yet again on Nov.

1. Deadline hears the two parties have lengthy bargaining days set aside on Monday and Tuesday to hammer out the deal. A source tells Deadline that there hasn’t been much movement beyond casual exchanges since the last round of bargaining in September, which ended with a contract extension. “The biggest issue we’re facing right now is trying to find some common ground,” the source says.

But, there is hope yet, as the source explains the outlook is still “optimistic” that there’s a deal to be made by next Friday.

The Animation Guild flexed its muscle Thursday, when hundreds of members descended on Netflix headquarters in Los Angeles to present a petition to executives that the union said in a statement should “reminds these bosses that while animation workers kept content alive during the COVID lockdown, and animation is outperforming live action on screens and in merchandise sales, animation workers are facing unprecedented levels of unemployment, losing their healthcare, homes, and livelihoods.” In other words, it was meant to signal that the union isn’t playing around as it heads into next week’s bargaining sessions, especially since the contract has already been extended twice to accommodate more talks. “We don’t want to spend the next few weeks [doing] that dance — we give a little, they give a little, we give a little,” a source adds.