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In a historic move, Marvel Studios’ visual effects workers unanimously voted in favor of unionizing with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) in an election held by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the company announced Wednesday.
This marks the first time a unit of solely VFX workers has unionized with IATSE.
The Marvel Studios workers initially filed for the election on Aug. 7, and votes were cast and collected between Aug. 21 and Sept. 11. During the count on Sept. 12, all votes were in favor of unionizing with IATSE and zero were against.
So far, Marvel Studios is the only in-house VFX team unionized with IATSE, but Walt Disney Pictures VFX staffers recently moved to unionize in late August.
The next step for the union is to engage in collective bargaining negotiations with Marvel Studios execs in order to draft a contract that addresses the workers’ needs. As of now, negotiation dates have yet to be scheduled.
The unionization vote comes amid the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, as the guilds continue to seek fair contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.