Amid Tense Negotiations, SAG-AFTRA Expands Indie Video Games Coverage With New Contract
As SAG-AFTRA remains locked in tense negotiations with video game giants, the actors union has released a new contract designed to cover a larger number of indie and lower-budget gaming projects and create “pressure” in the bargaining room with major companies. The union’s new Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement, announced Wednesday, contains provisions — especially […]
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IGN Editorial and Creative Workers Go Public With Unionization Drive
Creative and editorial workers at the gaming and entertainment publication IGN have gone public with their effort to unionize with the NewsGuild. Eighty-seven percent of slightly more than 80 workers at the Los Angeles-based site signed union cards signaling their support for unionizing, the NewsGuild announced on Tuesday. The group said it is requesting voluntary […]
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The Onion Union Ratifies Strike-Averting Contract
Creative workers at The Onion, The A.V. Club and Deadspin and other titles owned by G/O Media have ratified the tentative deal that averted a potential strike. Out of 36 members in the Writers Guild of America East-represented bargaining unit, 33 voted “yes” on the labor agreement reached Jan. 31 while three rejected the deal, […]
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The Onion Union Reaches Tentative Deal With Management, Averting Strike
A strike has been averted at The Onion and several of its sister publications, at least for now. Hours before their current labor agreement was set to expire, The Onion union — representing staffers at The Onion, Onion Labs, The A.V. Club, Deadspin and The Takeout — reached a tentative deal on a new contract with owners G/O Media. […]
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The Next Labor Battle: IATSE and Teamsters to Begin Negotiations in Early March, Starting With Benefits
Hollywood’s top crew unions have announced that they will be bargaining their health and pension benefits together at the outset of their 2024 labor negotiations with studios and streamers. IATSE and the Hollywood Basic Crafts coalition (which includes Teamsters Local 399) announced on Wednesday that they will jointly negotiate their Motion Picture Pension and Health […]
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U.S. ‘Avatar’ Workers Vote to Unionize In Boost for VFX Organizing Effort
U.S.-based visual effects artists who help bring James Cameron’s Avatar epics to life have voted to unionize in a National Labor Relations Board election. Of an eligible 88 workers at Walt Disney Studios subsidiary TCF US Productions 27, Inc. who assist with productions for Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment, 57 voted to join the union and 19 […]
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Writers Guild East Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge Against G/O Media Amid Fraught Negotiations
The Writers Guild of America East has filed an unfair labor practice charge against G/O Media, alleging that the media holding company has been “bargaining in bad faith” in ongoing negotiations over a new labor contract for creative staffers. On Thursday the writers’ union alleged in the complaint to the National Labor Relations Board that […]
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In Major Deal, Directors Guild Retroactively Secures Writers’ Streaming Success Bonus
Nearly seven months after it ratified its latest labor contract with Hollywood studios and streamers, the Directors Guild of America has improved upon some of that deal’s terms — and gained a cornerstone achievement of the 2023 writers strike. The union informed members Thursday that it had secured the same streaming success bonus and access […]
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Los Angeles Times Names Terry Tang Interim Executive Editor
After the sudden resignation of a top editor and a transformational round of layoffs, The Los Angeles Times‘ owner has named the newspaper’s new interim leader: editorial page editor Terry Tang. Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong announced the appointment on Thursday, telling staff that the decision heralded a new direction for the organization. “We are committed […]
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Los Angeles Times to Lay Off at Least 115 Newsroom Staffers
The Los Angeles Times is set to cut at least 115 newsroom positions in a round of layoffs that have been anticipated since last week. That’s according to the new story in the paper that features an interview with owner Patrick Soon-Shiong. He said Tuesday that the Times needs to bring in more readers who […]
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Condé Nast Union Members Launch 24-Hour Walkout Amid Layoff Talks
Union members who work at Condé Nast brands including Vanity Fair, Vogue and GQ will be walking off the job on Tuesday to protest negotiations conduct that they claim violates labor law. More than 400 Condé Nast Union members at those three publications as well as Allure, Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, Epicurious, […]
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As Musicians Start Talks With Studios, Hollywood Labor Leaders Lend Support In Picket
The leader of the American Federation of Musicians proclaimed that Hollywood labor is “in a new era” as dozens of members of various entertainment unions came to the doorstep of studio labor negotiators in support of the start of his union’s contract negotiations on Monday. As an early drizzle that morning turned into driving rain, […]
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