Documentary Workers Union Ratifies Groundbreaking Contract With International Documentary Association

deadline.com:

Progress on one labor front in the media industry. Documentary Workers United announced its membership has voted unanimously to ratify its first ever contract with the International Documentary Association, capping months of negotiations. “Our contract, our union, and our victorious ratification is a labor of love and care that would not have been possible without the continuous work of IDA workers, past and present,” DWU said in a statement. “We are workers who defied the odds and who, despite continued challenges, have stayed committed to our union’s mission of equity and justice.” Terms of the two-year contract call for: DWU, which is part of the Communications Workers of America local 9003, covers non-management employees of the IDA, a nonprofit that provides grants to nonfiction filmmakers and advocates for the documentary community.

The unionization effort came in the midst of a period of intense turbulence at the IDA during the tenure of former IDA executive Rick Pérez, who ran the organization for a year and a half before resigning in December 2022.

By one estimate, 21 of 23 IDA employees, including management and non-management staff, departed during Pérez’s time in office, many of them making no secret of their displeasure with his leadership style.

Many who left also complained about the IDA’s board, which fully backed Pérez as relations between the ED and employees deteriorated. “We believe DWU is the first step in building true collaboration and trust at IDA.