‘Solar Opposites’ Production Workers Vote to Join Animation Guild

Production workers on the animated alien sitcom Solar Opposites have voted to join The Animation Guild in a National Labor Relations Board election.

The eight-member bargaining unit unanimously voted to join the Guild (IATSE Local 839), the union says. (The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the show’s distributor, Hulu, for comment.)

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The vote count took place on Wednesday, after a voting period between April 1 and April 18. The Animation Guild first announced the news on Twitter on Thursday. “We did it!!!” tweeted Solar Opposites production coordinator Dana Bell, who added, “Huge thank you to everyone for all the support especially all the artists on RAM [Rick and Morty] and Solar who always had our backs, our shop stewards @teddyoconnor and Elisa, our organizer, and everybody who showed support!! Very proud of this moment.”

Workers on Solar Opposites filed a petition for a union election on Feb. 22 after the Local claimed that management at the show’s parent studio declined to voluntarily recognize a requested bargaining unit. In workers’ announcement of their intention to unionize, Solar Opposites production manager Kallan Zimmerman said that production workers “have been underappreciated and undercompensated for far too long” and that “it’s time for us to have a seat at the table alongside our artist colleagues.” Bell added, “I’m excited to unite with my coworkers in production who work so hard in these shows, to join forces with the artists at TAG, and to work towards getting the recognition and the benefits that we deserve.”

The election results represent the latest victory for the Guild when it comes to organizing production workers in animation. Last month, following a card count, a union for production workers at Titmouse L.A. was voluntarily recognized; the union says that a card count also recently yielded a voluntary recognition at Rick and Morty (distributor Adult Swim declined comment). While The Animation Guild has in the past represented production workers, when contracts at Titmouse L.A., Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites are negotiated “it will be the first time in recent history” that the Guild will cover such workers, says one Guild representative. At a recent Animation Guild rally, Guild organizer and field representative Ben Speight said the Local is intent on further organizing production workers on animated projects.

Meanwhile, the Guild remains tied up in protracted negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which bargains on behalf of the major studios, over a new master agreement. Those negotiations began in late November 2021 and, as talks have stretched on, Guild members have become increasingly outspoken on social media about grievances like low compensation for animation writers covered under their agreement, color designers and story artists, among other issues.

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