DreamWorks Animation remote feature production workers and the production team behind the new TED animated television series have voted to unionize, joining The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) alongside the Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700). On the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, organizer Allison Smartt, TED: The Animated Series color coordinator Kelly Simmons and organizer Ben Speight described how a wave of organizing since 2021 has unionized more than 1,400 animation workers nationwide.
Their message was straightforward: remote work should not mean losing union standards, production workers should not be carved out of collective bargaining protections, and emerging pressures like AI and corporate consolidation make worker power more necessary, not less. With bargaining preparations underway, the newly organized TED: The Animated Series unit is aiming to secure a first contract on an accelerated timeline as the show winds down.
The latest union wins in animation are not isolated events. They are part of a sustained national push to bring union coverage to workers who have long operated in a two-tier system.
On the podcast, host Ed “Flash” Ferenc opened the conversation with the news that DreamWorks Animation remote feature production workers across the country and Netflix Animation Studios production workers on TED have voted to unionize with The Animation Guild.
Allison Smartt, an organizer with The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839), framed the moment as both practical and cultural. Animation is collaborative by nature, she said, and that collaboration extends to organizing.
Smartt described how the TED: The Animated Series unit took inspiration from organizing activities happening around them at DreamWorks. The show is based in DreamWorks offices, even though it is owned by NBCUniversal. That proximity mattered. Workers were watching colleagues fight for recognition and protections, and they began asking why production roles were still excluded.
In organizing, Smartt said, “Courage is contagious.”
One of the clearest takeaways from the discussion came from Simmons, a color coordinator on TED: The Animated Series.
Simmons has spent roughly eight years in the animation industry, moving between production coordinating and artist roles. That career path gave her a front-row view of a structural contradiction: artist roles were unionized, production roles often were not.
That split is not just a technical distinction. It shapes wages, benefits, job protections and workplace voice. It also creates a workplace culture where two employees can work side by side on the same production while living under different standards.
Simmons said the organizing effort gained momentum after workers saw DreamWorks colleagues coming together. The result was a decision to organize their own unit.
For labor advocates, the significance extends beyond one show. It is about eliminating carve-outs that have historically left production workers without the protections many in the industry assume exist.
Speight, an organizer based in Georgia with decades of organizing experience, described remote organizing as difficult but increasingly necessary.
Speight explained that the pandemic reshaped where animation workers live. Many longtime union members relocated for cost-of-living and quality-of-life reasons. But some employers treated that move as grounds to deny union coverage.
The issue, Speight said, was an “arbitrary decision” imposed by employers: if a worker lived outside Los Angeles County, they could be excluded from collective bargaining agreement coverage.
That inequality became a catalyst.
Speight pointed to successful organizing at Walt Disney Animation Studios and DreamWorks feature animation workers across the United States. In the DreamWorks remote unit, he said 76 workers voted yes by supermajority, with ballots counted Dec. 23.
Remote organizing is not simply a logistical challenge. It is a fight over whether modern production models will be used to weaken or strengthen standards.
The organizing wins discussed on the show involve both The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) and the Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700), reflecting the fact that animation production relies on multiple crafts and classifications.
Ferenc emphasized the central demand: fair pay and fair treatment for workers who, in the guests’ view, have too often been taken advantage of.
That framing matters because it connects the campaign to a long labor tradition. When workers organize, they are not only asking for higher wages. They are demanding dignity, transparency and enforceable standards.
Speight added that the union’s strategy has included investing in organizing to “outflank” employer resistance at the bargaining table. When employers refuse to include certain workers through negotiations, workers can still build power by organizing new units and expanding coverage from the ground up.
Smartt described the TED Animated production unit as “small but mighty.” The group includes 10 workers.
Small units can face unique pressures. They have fewer people to share the workload and risk. They may also face a faster timeline, especially if a production is winding down.
Yet Smartt described the unit as disciplined and unified, showing up with supermajority participation in actions such as:
Simmons said the team meets weekly and has been preparing for bargaining by clarifying priorities, developing arguments and deciding where compromise is possible.
This is what first-contract work looks like in real life: structured preparation, internal alignment and a willingness to sustain pressure.
Simmons said the goal is to secure a contract before the show wraps, ideally by March or April.
Artificial intelligence was a central concern in the episode, not as a talking point but as a workplace reality.
Smartt acknowledged she is not an animator, but she relayed what she hears from workers: exhaustion with corporate messaging and uncertainty. Workers are hearing contradictory narratives, she said, without “thoughtful implementation.”
The Animation Guild has formed an AI task force made up of workers and supported by experts. The goal is to understand real impacts and craft meaningful contract language.
Smartt also placed AI in a historical context. Animation has repeatedly adapted to new technologies, from pen and paper to computers to hybrid models. The union’s role, she said, is to set guardrails so technology does not become an excuse to erode jobs or standards.
The conversation also touched on consolidation, including public speculation about major mergers.
Speight said the most common obstacle in organizing is fear: fear of losing control over pay, benefits and working conditions. Consolidation intensifies that fear when workers feel decisions are made by “global titans and billionaires” without worker consent.
Speight explained that in labor relations terms, ownership changes may not be a mandatory subject of bargaining, but their consequences often manifest in layoffs, restructuring, outsourcing and shifting production models. Organizing and strong contracts are how workers build leverage to withstand those shocks.
Smartt said the months ahead will look like the months behind: hard work, courage and collective action.
Her role, she explained, is to stand with workers, provide tools and help guide strategy. The core engine remains worker solidarity.
Smartt reiterated that organizing is essential, especially as technology and consolidation reshape the economy.
For animation workers, the recent union votes are not the end of the story. They are the start of bargaining, enforcement and continued expansion. The mission, as Speight put it, is to “organize everybody else” and leave nobody behind.
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