Visual effects workers at Marvel Studios have voted unanimously to unionize with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. The vote followed their vote last month to file for an election with the National Labor Relations Board. Marvel VFX workers are the first VFX department in the entertainment industry to unionize, following years of speaking out against poor working conditions.
IATSE VFX organizer Mark Patch spoke about the decision to unionize in a statement released by IATSE.
Today, VFX workers at Marvel Studios spoke with a unanimous, collective voice, demanding fair pay for the hours they work, health care, a safe and sustainable working environment, and respect for the work they do. There could be no stronger statement highlighting the overwhelming need for us to continue our work and bring union protections and standards to all VFX workers across the industry. And there could be no stronger example of the courage and solidarity of these workers than each and every one of them declaring, ‘Union yes!’
In the IATSE statement, Marvel VFX coordinator Sarah Kazuko Chow described the working conditions at Marvel.
I grew up dreaming of working on Marvel films, so when I started my first job at Marvel, I felt like I couldn’t complain about the unpaid overtime, the lack of meal breaks, and the incredible pressure put on VFX teams to meet deadlines because I was just supposed to be grateful to be here at all. But the reality is that every worker deserves rights, and joining IATSE means we don’t have to choose between the job we love and having identities outside of our work.
VFX workers are organizing across the entertainment industry
After Marvel VFX workers voted to hold a union election last month, VFX workers at Disney followed suit, with 80% of the studio’s VFX department voting to hold an election. That vote will conclude on October 2.
Marvel VFX workers have been reporting poor working conditions for years. In August 2022, VFX artist Joe Pavlo told The Guardian that the work environment was like “bullying but filtered through multiple layers of management and supervisor and hierarchy … It’s not like the executive from Disney is grabbing someone and swearing at them or something like that. It’s more like an atmosphere where everybody feels like this is the most desperately important thing and, if we don’t do it, we’re all fucked.”
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
