Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Production Workers Launch Unionization Effort

Katie Kilkenny
·3 min read
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Dozens of production workers at Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network have gone public with their attempt to unionize with The Animation Guild.

Sixty-six staffers at Warner Bros. Animation and 22 at Cartoon Network filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday and simultaneously requested voluntary recognition from management at the Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiaries. Collectively, the group includes workers in roles like production manager, digital production assistant, IT technician, production coordinator, production assistant, design production coordinator, assistant production manager and senior assistant production manager.

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The effort was announced on a joint Zoom call around noon on Wednesday with production workers at the Warner Bros. Discovery brands and TAG members. The staffers involved work on an array of shows, including Warner Bros. Animation’s Batman: The Caped Crusader, Harley Quinn and Teen Titans Go! and Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, We Baby Bears and Craig of the Creek.

“Although many might not think it, production is a specialized skill; we might not be artists or writers, but what we bring to the table goes beyond traditional creativity and gets content on the air,” Warner Bros. Animation production manager Hannah Ferenc said in a statement about the organization effort. “Having lived through the existing state of the animation industry for the past seven years, I want to make sure that not only our current workers, but all those who choose to join us in the future, can feel secure in following their passion by earning livable wages and being treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network for comment.

According to TAG organizer Ben Speight, one important impetus for the organizing effort was the merger of development and production for the two brands, announced in October 2022. Staff members were seeking “consent over that process and a collective voice to ensure that their jobs and standards are protected.” The desire for higher pay, portable benefits and overtime pay for production managers (who Speight alleged do not receive overtime pay) also motivated the group.

Another factor was the growing number of established animation workplaces that have unionized production workers. The Animation Guild has been aggressively organizing this group since early 2022. In the time since, the union has established bargaining units on shows like Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites, The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad! and at studios like Titmouse New York and L.A. and ShadowMachine. An attempt to do the same at Walt Disney Animation Studios is in progress.

In a statement about the Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network effort, Cartoon Network production coordinator Em Hagen said, “Growing up, my parents’ union was the reason my brother and I had good health care, financial aid for our college educations and general security when the job market was so harsh. I believe a union like that at Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers will help all of us continue to work jobs we love and feel assured that our futures are bright.”

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