Allison Smartt, an organizer with International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 839, known as The Animation Guild (TAG), joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about recent organizing success with animators at Dreamworks Studios and dispelled some myths about workers in this type of creative industry.
Smartt originally got her start in unions as a sound engineer in Western Massachusetts. Due to several labor law violations by her employer, she and another coworker began an organizing drive. This was her first taste of organizing, and as a member of IATSE Local 232, she would eventually become an organizer in 2018. This desire to provide workplace rights led her to Los Angeles, where she began working as an organizer to help production workers in animation start their own union, which is how she began working with The Animation Guild.
Since 2020, animation workers have organized at over 16 studios and shows nationwide. Smartt works with a teammate, Ben Speight, to organize the animation teams that need a say in their workplace. A four-year organizing effort at Dreamworks Studios with production workers recently won a National Labor Relations Board election with a 70 percent approval rate. She talked about how their win was influenced by the Walt Disney Animation Production Studio workers' union win in 2023. Smartt discussed how her and Speight’s focus on advising and educating animation workers about what a union can do and empowering the workers to lead their negotiations has led to a string of successes.
There’s a misconception that animators, or any worker in a creative industry, should be able to work all day because they have a “passion” for the work. While they do have an unmatched passion for their work, they deserve the same benefits as any other worker. Smartt talked about the campaigns where she worked with workers asking for quality healthcare, retirement contributions from the employers and a livable wage. Over the years, workers in these creative industries have faced several workplace issues, and slowly but surely, Smartt and her team hope to get them the protections and benefits they deserve.
Listen to the show above to learn more about organizing in the animation industry and about Smartt.