Several organizing drives launched in 2025 have paid off for The Animation Guild.
On December 30 feature production workers at Netflix Animation Studios voted to join the union in a National Labor Relations Board election. Forty-four workers voted to join the union, which has organized production workers at several separate studios in recent years, while 13 voted against.
These workers have been involved in the streamer’s upcoming projects based on Roald Dahl’s works and 2023’s Leo. “As a part of TAG, I’m excited for the opportunity we now have to represent ourselves as a unit, and I’m encouraged by the other production management teams in our industry who have set the bar,” Netflix Animation Studios production coordinator Erin Sullivan said in a statement.
And that was just the latest victory for the Burbank-based union, which represents around 5,000 animation professionals.
On December 23 remote animation staffers at DreamWorks voted to join the union, with 52 voters in favor and 10 against in an NLRB election. More than 70 staffers living across the U.S. who contribute to L.A.-based DreamWorks projects were eligible to participate in the election.
On the same day, a small group of production workers on the NBCUniversal series Ted voted to join both The Animation Guild and The Editors Guild, which is a separate Local that is also affiliated with IATSE, in an NLRB election. In that case, the workers voted unanimously to join the unions.
All unions have been certified by NLRB in the aftermath of the elections.
In the face of challenges from the contraction of the entertainment business and the rise of generative AI, The Animation Guild has pressed ahead with an aggressive organizing agenda. The union announced its organizing drives at Netflix, DreamWorks and Ted in September 2025 and new union president Danny Lin has stated her intention for the group “to organize, to fight, and to win.”
The union’s top staffer, business representative Steve Kaplan, also suggested in a statement on Tuesday that his labor group isn’t going to take its foot off the gas when it comes to expanding its membership.
“We are continuing to expand our jurisdiction both inside and outside the scope of our Master Agreement as we continue to look forward to protecting the rights of all animation workers regardless of zip code,” he said.
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