The Animation Guild (TAG), IATSE Local 839, has recorded a series of significant organizing victories after workers at Netflix Animation, DreamWorks Animation, and NBCUniversal’s Ted television series voted to unionize.
The successful votes expanded the guild’s representation across streaming animation, remote production teams, and television production, marking another major step in the ongoing labor rebalancing within Hollywood’s animation sector.
Feature production workers at Netflix Animation voted in favor of joining The Animation Guild following a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election.
The vote brings Netflix’s animation production staff under union representation, granting workers the right to collectively bargain for standardized pay, benefits, working hours, and job protections. The result reflects growing efforts by animation workers at streaming platforms to secure conditions comparable to those at traditional studios.
In a separate but equally notable result, remote production workers at DreamWorks Animation also voted to unionize with TAG.
The DreamWorks vote is particularly significant because it covers workers operating remotely across multiple U.S. locations, reinforcing the guild’s position that union protections should apply regardless of physical workplace. As remote work becomes increasingly common in animation production, the outcome establishes a precedent for organizing beyond studio campuses.
A smaller group of production workers on NBCUniversal’s Ted television series voted to unionize with The Animation Guild and the Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700).
The decision highlights a broader organizing push that includes production roles alongside artists and animators, reflecting the expanding scope of unionization efforts within animation-adjacent work.
With the elections concluded, the affected companies are legally required to recognize the union and begin collective bargaining. While the votes do not result in immediate changes to wages or contracts, they provide workers with formal representation and negotiating power moving forward.
The Animation Guild has described the wins as part of a wider effort to adapt labor protections to the realities of modern animation production, particularly in the streaming era.
The results come amid ongoing changes in Hollywood’s labor landscape, as workers across film, television, and animation push for clearer standards in pay, job security, and working conditions.
For streaming platforms like Netflix and established studios like DreamWorks, the votes signal a continued shift toward greater union presence in areas that were previously less organized.
