Meet the union supporting Hollywood animators in Vancouver

Over four years into organizing the biggest union for digital artists in Canada, the Vancouver-based Canadian Animation Guild, IATSE Local 938, says it’s just getting started.

On Saturday, Jan. 25, the guild, as part of a group called Organize the Digital Arts, will host a town hall event to talk about the strides it’s made to protect artists and what it’s got in store for 2025.

First founded in 2020, the guild now boasts a union of visual effects designers, animators, and digital creators, supporting work on major Hollywood blockbusters — including Sony’s animated Spider-Verse series of movies — in Vancouver.

Guild President Eddy Pedreira says approximately 10,000 workers comprise the local industry, making Vancouver a leading centre in the world. But he says the working conditions for digital artists can be rough.

Strict deadlines to maintain costly production schedules, Pedreira says, lead to a lot of unchecked overtime hours and exploitation. That’s why about 160 workers from animation studio Titmouse Vancouver first organized to form a branch of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union.

“To take the massive amount of money flowing through this industry, taking the world renown of the Vancouver animation industry and translating it into lifelong, stable careers that can bring dignity to the folks making all this magic work has been a top priority for us ever since,” said Pedreira.

He says the guild is now bargaining the first collective agreements to fight for consistent hours and combat wage stagnation for over 1,000 people — and hosting events like the one planned for Saturday to attract more.

As a result, he says the artistry in Vancouver has improved.

“Because we’ve been able to make the union present in front of people’s lives, if they feel that if production is a bit of a nightmare, if the schedules are concerning, and if they start feeling that pressure to start doing those ghost hours, they know that their department steward is just a couple lines down at the studio… and they can just focus on the work and not worry too much about it taking over their entire lives.”

Looking forward, Pedreira says the guild is working to build a central health plan to protect its members from the pitfalls of the all-too-common studio turnover endemic to the industry.

“And so when you swap between workplaces, or even if you’re not working at all, you [would] get those extended health benefits. You get dental, you get mental health, you get vision, that you wouldn’t necessarily have just through the public options that we have.”

The event Saturday will feature speakers from local studios and a chance to socialize with digital arts workers and build community — which Pedreira says is crucial to organizing and building a better union.

“I think the spark that we started in 2020 is leading to a lot of engagement in that space,” said Pedreira. “And I’m hoping that in a few years, it’s not going to be uncommon at all to walk into a studio and just be like, ‘Okay, here’s your unit membership to go along with it.’”