Nickelodeon Animation Studio Joins IATSE & Editors Guild Following Approval By Viacom

Update - Below is the Motion Picture Editors Guild's official statement, via Animation World Network:

Editorial Employees at Nickelodeon Animation Studio Unionize

BURBANK, CALIF. -- The editorial employees of Nickelodeon Animation Studio have overwhelmingly elected to unionize with the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Local 700 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Nickelodeon has agreed to recognize the editors’ union after an arbitrator verified that a majority of employees had signed union authorization cards.

Nickelodeon Animation Studios produces animated episodic programming such as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shimmer and Shine.

The newly unionized positions encompass a range of pre-production and post-production roles. Recording engineers and dialogue editors record and arrange voice actors’ dialogue prior to animation. Animatic editors work in pre-production to assemble storyboards and soundtracks in a pre-visualization of the finished show. Picture editors cut the completed color animation. And machine room employees manage the elements and equipment used in the creation of shows.

Unlike many other employers that actively resist their employees’ efforts to organize, Nickelodeon opted not to contest its editorial crew’s decision to go union. The company instead granted recognition to the union based upon an independent third party’s verification that a majority of employees had signed cards in support of unionizing. This so-called “card check” process of unionization is favored by organized labor because it permits employees to freely decide the question of unionization without the coercive influence of management campaigns to dissuade them.

“We are proud to welcome this group of professionals to the Editors Guild family,” said Alan Heim, A.C.E., president of the Motion Picture Editors Guild. “Their work helps bring to life some of the most beloved children’s programming on television, and they deserve a voice in the workplace. We are glad that Nickelodeon honors their editorial crew’s decision, and we look forward to productive negotiations with the company.”

Nickelodeon already has union contracts covering several hundred artists, writers, and technicians represented by the Editors Guild’s sister union, The Animation Guild, Local 839 of the IATSE.

The Motion Picture Editors Guild is Local 700 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Established in 1937, the guild now represents roughly 8,000 postproduction professionals working nationwide in live-action and animated television, features, and new media.

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Original post:

The Nickelodeon Animation Studio today joined the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) following the successful effort by editorial employees of Nickelodeon Animation Studio to unionize being welcomed by Viacom bosses, a move which is seen as a increasingly rare occurrence in Hollywood nowadays, reports Deadline.

An independent arbitrator this morning signed off that a clear majority of the currently nearly three dozen NAS employees had inked union cards and sought IATSE and its Local 700, the Motion Picture Editors Guild representation. With that, Nickelodeon and parent company Viacom reiterated their decision not to challenge the move towards unionization. The timing of the move comes as the already strongly unionized Nickelodeon sees it's parent company Viacom in the midst of contentious potential merger talks with CBS.

Now covering picture editors, recording engineers and dialogue editors, animatic editors, and machine room employees, this new collective step joins the IATSE agreements that NAS already has in place with the Animation Guild among others. It also is another feather in the 81-year-old Editors Guild cap to bring Hollywood workers into the collective bargaining fold.

“We are proud to welcome this group of professionals to the Editors Guild family,” said Editors Guild president Alan Heim told Deadline Friday, April 13 after the union authorization cards were verified and recognition given by Nickelodeon and the studio that produces much of Nickelodeon's animated content, including hits such as SpongeBob SquarePants and The Loud House, and upcoming TMNT reboot Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. “Their work helps bring to life some of the most beloved children’s programming on television, and they deserve a voice in the workplace. We are glad that Nickelodeon honors their editorial crew’s decision, and we look forward to productive negotiations with the company.”

Also, from Variety:

EDITORS UNIONIZED

The editorial employees of Nickelodeon Animation Studio have elected to unionize with the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Local 700 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Nickelodeon has agreed to recognize the editors’ union after an arbitrator verified that a majority of employees had signed union authorization cards. The studio produces animated episodic programming such as “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “The Loud House,” “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Shimmer and Shine.”

The newly unionized positions encompass a range of pre-production and post-production roles. Recording engineers and dialogue editors record and arrange voice actors’ dialogue prior to animation. Animatic editors work in pre-production to assemble storyboards and soundtracks in a pre-visualization of the finished show. Picture editors cut the completed color animation. Machine room employees manage the elements and equipment used in the creation of shows.

“We are proud to welcome this group of professionals to the Editors Guild family,” said Alan Heim, president of the Motion Picture Editors Guild. “Their work helps bring to life some of the most beloved children’s programming on television, and they deserve a voice in the workplace. We are glad that Nickelodeon honors their editorial crew’s decision, and we look forward to productive negotiations with the company.”

The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.

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More Nick: Nickelodeon Upfront 2018 Full Coverage!

Originally published: Friday, April 13, 2018.

Additional sources: google.co.uk, iatse.net.

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