Apr 10, 2024

Icon Creative Studios Employees in Vancouver Announce Unionization

Workers at Icon Creative Studios, Vancouver's largest animation production company, have announced their intention to unionize with the Canadian Animation Guild (CAG) and IATSE Local 938. A comprehensive website dedicated to organizing efforts has been launched at IconUnited.ca

IconUnited.ca.

Icon has produced animation for shows such as Disney's "Monsters at Work" and Paramount+'s "Transformers": also "Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures" and "Ariel" for Disney Junior. The studio currently employs nearly 800 people. The studio currently has nearly 800 employees, and any worker who is not directly involved in hiring/firing can have representation.

IATSE reports that hundreds of workers have already signed secret cards in support of unionization; at least 55% of eligible workers must sign union support cards before IATSE can submit an application for certification to the BC Labour Relations Board. After certification, workers can begin negotiating contract terms with ICON.

According to ICON's organizing website, some of the key issues that drove ICON's organizing efforts include:

CAG 938 Secretary Eddie Pedreira said in a statement:

When I first started organizing for our union I was a junior animator with a work permit in Vancouver. I was stuck between complicated immigration procedures, short contract terms, and high rent. In the midst of all this, I realized that no one had my back. Organizing this union changed everything. The union empowered me and allowed me to focus on what really mattered: building my life in the country of my choice. To the iconic workers who made this decision today - the choice is yours and yours alone. We are here to support you.

In recent months, unionization in the Vancouver animation industry has been on the rise, with workers at Wild Brain and Kickstart Entertainment recently organizing at CAG 938, and workers at DNEG Vancouver launching a union at the newly formed IATSE Local 402 launched a union in the newly formed IATSE Local 402.