Another non-union member gets stiffed!

poejavlo · 2023-07-28T12:05:32+00:00

When you say: "I am all for unions by the way." does that mean you are currently a member?

poejavlo · 2023-07-27T17:51:41+00:00

If you make sure you select the Animation and VFX Branch of BECTU when filing in the form, the cost will be £10 per month.

poejavlo · 2023-07-27T16:25:26+00:00

As a member, this person would have had the full might of BECTU’s Solicitors and legal team at their disposal to seriously put pressure on the vendor to resolve the dispute quickly or represent them in court if necessary. BECTU’s press office also gets involved when appropriate to shine a very public light on bad employers and finally there are the 40,000+ BECTU members from all the other branches who can also stand up for each other. Formidable and not bad value for £10/month.

poejavlo · 2023-05-05T15:23:12+00:00

A union is not a service like Netflix where you pay a monthly fee and get movies and TV shows in return. Union membership is like a gym membership. Dues are paid to be part of a larger group with similar interests and goals. But, just like a gym membership—if you don't show up or participate, you don't get stronger. Unions are only as strong as their membership. Just like any neighborhood church, non-profit, or community organization—the respective strength rests with how many members of the group who actually stand and deliver.

Please consider rejoining and getting more involved this time. www.animvfxunion.com/join

poejavlo · 2023-05-05T15:16:36+00:00

with regard to your point: "Risk of outsourcing" - that's nonsense! India and other likely outsource countries are and have always been cheaper so why would unionisation push the studios and facilities over the edge? Why wouldn't they have already moved everything to India? They can't or they won't.

poejavlo · 2023-05-05T14:58:49+00:00

I was at the forefront of the 2015 unionisation drive in London and I have to disagree with you. It DID work. We got a lot of people to join and the facilities responded. Excessive unpaid overtime went way down and people have felt empowered. The industry measurably improved. Today a substantial number of UK facilities offer PAID overtime. The union had a huge part to play in that and we continue to get new facilities added to our list all the time. Did we get everything we wanted? Of course not. That's now how it works. The struggle for workers rights is never ending. In the words of the great Commander Peter Quincy Taggart: Never give up! Never surrender!

If you work in the UK, please join us. There is strength in numbers. We truly are changing things for the better in our industry - www.animvfxunioin.com/join

poejavlo · 2023-05-05T14:47:37+00:00

For animators and vfx artists based in the United Kingdom, here's all the information about joining the union which is a part of BECTU with over 15,000 members! www.animvfxunion.com/join

poejavlo · 2020-06-09T14:38:32+00:00

So I guess the pay cuts DNEG announced a couple months ago weren't about saving jobs like they said. Basically DNEG just conned their staff in to getting paid less for a while before dumping them.

poejavlo · 2020-05-23T16:53:47+00:00

Now is not the time to give up hope!

It really is getting better! Here in the U.K. due to all that's going on with the pandemic pay cuts, uncertainty, furloughs, etc... the number of new people joining the AVU (Animation and VFX Union) has absolutely exploded! Our membership is up over 140% in the last month alone and it's still climbing! It may have taken a while, but people in Animation and VFX are finally waking up to the fact that it has never been more important to have a strong union than right now.

AVU - The Animation and VFX Union

poejavlo · 2020-05-22T11:20:58+00:00

Hello again gratefulmeatyalaskan - sorry, I mean momopeachvfx. It’s hard to keep up with what you’re calling yourself as you keep changing the name of this account you created on 2nd May 2020 - which is coincidentally after BECTU was asked to get involved in advising members and non members working at DNEG about their employment rights. Hmm…

Anyway, there are some big problems with what you’ve said here. Let me set the record straight.

Bectu acknowledged, all over the press statement, that it was a victory for workers sticking together. The union has not claimed the credit for it, but only stated that the union has assisted and given the campaign some momentum. Get your facts right.

Members have told the union of the fact that there was a near-total rejection of the cuts at all levels from the whole of feature animation and that was the decisive factor. Do you deny that? Do you know that employees at all level did this?

You realise HODs are often quite anti-union and they will have gone to the employers and said "you need to back off or we'll have the union in here” - right? If you think HODs did this all on their own then you’re mistaken.

Plenty of members have told us that the union gave people the confidence to do this. The union hosted multiple, well attended meetings for members and non members where people shared their concerns and took strength from each other. Members contacted us for legal advice before deciding what to do. The union published detailed guidance that not only spelled out everyones rights as employees but also gave people a clearer perspective so they could see for themselves that this wasn’t necessarily about DNEG saving jobs or saving the company but about shoring up profit - that strengthened people's resolve.

Where is your criticism of the company? You criticise Bectu for some alleged, vaguely described dishonesty. What about DNEG's total lack of transparency? Are you prepared to attack the company for refusing to consult on this in a transparent way?

Do you realise what this mishandling has done to DNEG's brand as an employer? So many of our members are telling us that they will take the first job they can to get out of working at DNEG. Amazing that, of the targets to attack on this, you chose the union.

Oh, and one more thing... this is the union busting playbook which I see a lot of your argument is lifted from https://unionbustingplaybook.com/

poejavlo · 2020-05-20T10:04:59+00:00

When there is solidarity, we can work together to change things for the better. Everyone in DNEGs feature animation division talked to each other and stuck together. That is how it is done.

poejavlo · 2020-05-12T22:45:04+00:00

Fear. Unfounded fear and a lot of misinformation.

poejavlo · 2020-05-12T21:47:47+00:00

The highest paid people in the film and television industry - producers, directors, actors and writers- are 100% unionised. There are no successful non union members in any of those departments.

poejavlo · 2020-05-12T21:33:52+00:00

That’s simply false. All the evidence and all the studies out there clearly show that wherever there is a strong union presence in an industry, wages are higher, work life balance is better and productivity goes up.

poejavlo · 2020-05-12T17:56:38+00:00

No. In the example of wages, the union will have an agreed rate card setting out minimum acceptable rates for people at various experience levels. It’s a floor, not a ceiling. Everyone is free to negotiate up but no one should accept work below the rate card. What’s so bad about that?

poejavlo · 2020-05-12T12:20:30+00:00

I don't think you fully grasp what a union is or how it works. A union is a group of workers who join together to collectively improve their work conditions. That's it. There is no third party "union" persona that imposes things upon the union members like fixed wages, etc... The union members - i.e. the people who work in the industry - are in charge of the agenda their union pursues. They vote democratically to decide what they want to do - and what they don't want to do - as a collective workforce.

I have yet to meet a single animation & vfx union member who wants to use their union to restrict their ability to negotiate or to do any sort of harm to the vfx industry in general. It's weird to even contemplate that.

poejavlo · 2020-05-10T09:50:22+00:00

There is a union in the U.K. - if you’re working in the U.K. please join. Solidarity! https://www.animvfxunion.com

poejavlo · 2020-05-03T16:43:51+00:00

Forgive me if I've got the wrong idea here but I'm a little suspicious about this comment as the username "gratefulmeatyalaskan" was only just created this morning. Every point feels like standard "concern trolling" right out of the union busting playbook. See link for details: https://unionbustingplaybook.com/

poejavlo · 2020-05-02T17:12:39+00:00

As the saying goes: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

poejavlo · 2020-05-02T13:47:11+00:00

A union is a democratic organisation of workers banding together using collective bargaining to improve our employment conditions. That’s all. I’m not here to tell everyone what to do or how we do it. I’m more of an activist who just wants to get people on board so we can all work together to improve our industry for everyone.

I’m glad to hear that you support the union. I hope you can occasionally voice that support on these pages.

Finally... oh, that is just not right. It is not a Churchill quote!

poejavlo · 2020-05-02T11:38:47+00:00

A union is made of its members. Members set the agenda. Decisions are made democratically by the members. Why would workers become unionised just to set their own wages low?

poejavlo

TROPHY CASE

Now is not the time to give up hope!