Home FAQ Myths Request a Union Card IATSE VFX United
en fr es

DNEG IS UNIONIZING

🎉 🎉 UPDATES! 🎉 🎉

  • On January 4th DNEG Toronto reached their target for signed cards and has filed for certification to form a union! A site wide confidential vote is organized for all eligible employees.

  • On December 21th DNEG Montréal reached their target for signed cards and has filed for certification to form a union!

  • On November 16th the BC Labour Relations Board certified DNEG Vancouver's application to form a union.

    DNEG Vancouver has now unionized and joined IATSE Local 402!

    For more information please refer to the Announcement Notice from the DNEG Vancouver Organizing Committee.

Introduction

We have begun the process to form a union at DNEG!

Together, we the artists, the production teams, the supervisors, the developers and the support teams are coming together to form a union.

To successfully form this union, we need our fellow DNEG employees to sign IATSE VFX Union Support Cards.

The goal of this site is to announce our intentions, so anyone within the VFX industry who supports this effort can spread the word far and wide.

Due to the overwhelming interest and to assist with this process, IATSE are forming two new IATSE VFX Local union branches.

Why?

Having a union will allow us to have a collective voice for management to hear our concerns and requests.

In a company as large as DNEG it is hard to make yourself heard. It is easy to ignore an individual raising grievances regarding the pay reductions due to the strikes, forgoing performance raises despite high inflation, or long periods of overtime.

Together as a collective voice, we can make ourselves heard and negotiate to improve our working environment for ourselves and our fellow coworkers.

Initially we want to better define our place within DNEG. With time as our unionization efforts grow we can together better define a healthier place within the film industry.

How?

Unionization is a multi-step process that differs from province to province.

British Columbia

  1. Request IATSE VFX Union Card
  2. After a few days, you'll receive a digital union card via "Adobe Sign"
  3. Once more than 55% of the eligible workers sign a card, IATSE will file an application with the BC Labour Relations Board.
  4. The Labour Relations Board will validate the signees on Nov. 16th
  5. The union is certified.

Quebec

  1. Request IATSE VFX Union Card
  2. Pay a $2 fee to the Tribunal Administratif du Travail (TAT).
  3. After a few days, you'll receive a digital union card via "Adobe Sign"
  4. Once more than 50% of the eligible workers sign a card IATSE will file an application with the TAT.
  5. The TAT will validate the signees.
  6. The union is certified.

Ontario

  1. Request IATSE VFX Union Card
  2. After a few days, you'll receive a digital union card via "Adobe Sign"
  3. Once more than 40% of the eligible workers sign a card IATSE will file an application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
  4. A site wide confidential vote is organized for all eligible employees. An employee may vote 'Yes', 'No', or 'Abstain'. Those who abstain or don't vote are not counted towards the final percent. If more than 50% of employees vote 'Yes'.
  5. The union is certified.

Signing a card is a confidential process! DNEG won't know you have signed.

Once the union is certified, that site is now fully unionized, and all employees are part of the union, even those who did not sign a card. This also means any new employees will automatically join the union. Upon certification the workers with assistance from IATSE negotiate the terms of the contract with DNEG. This is called a "Collective Agreement".

Then it is up to us, the employees, to put our names forward and vote for what will be our union's executive board. Over the following months we prioritize what is important to us and negotiate with DNEG on a contract that works for both parties.

Note on Time Frame for Receiving a Digital Union Card

Due to the confidential nature of signing cards it can take a couple days for IATSE to process your request. Once prepared you will receive a email from adobesign@adobesign.com asking for you signature. Be sure to check your Spam folders.

If you have not received a card after 3 days, please reach out to a local IATSE organizer in your area listed below.

Who?

Most employees can join the union. This includes everyone under the DNEG umbrella, including: VFX, FEAT, ReDefine, etc. The line is drawn at whether someone has the direct power to hire/fire others.

Who Can Join:
  • Artists, including dept. leads and supervisors
  • Production, including coordinators and producers
  • CG / DFX / VFX Supervisors
  • Production Technology
  • Workers on temporary leave
  • Part time workers

If you are unsure please reach out to a local IATSE organizer in your area listed below!

When?

Right now!

Due to the extremely high interest across the different Canadian sites, your fellow employees are already signing cards!

There has been interest in unionizing for a long time, because we think it is vital to the health and longevity of our working environment within the VFX industry.

Sometimes these efforts are the cumulation of years and years of careful planning. And sometimes, there's a flashpoint that gets everyone talking.

These moments build solidarity and spark conversations. We have the opportunity to make the most of one of these moments TODAY.

IATSE Contacts

Our Canadian IATSE organizers are:

Note:

There are a couple of DNEG Unionization oriented Discord servers, but to prevent being flooded by non-employees we request that you gain access to them by contacting one of the IATSE representatives.

In The News

Further Info

IATSE VFX United is the website for our VFX Locals in Canada. The site contains useful information directly from IATSE.

Check out the Frequently Asked Questions

The IATSE organizers are holding weekly Q&A sessions over Zoom. If you are interested in attending please email the organizer corresponding to your location for the link.

Resources

Infographics:

Helpful Links:

Other Unionization Efforts: