Marvel Studios Agrees to Unionization Vote for VFX Artists Amid Claims of Poor Working Conditions

Days after Marvel’s VFX workers voted internally on unionizing, the next step in the matter has taken place. Tuesday, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and Marvel Studios agreed on a voting timeline to recognize the union. According to a new report (via TheWrap), voting opens on August 21st and will run through the next few weeks before results are certified and subsequently announced on September 12th.

Last week, a supermajority of Marvel’s 50-plus visual effects workers voted to unionize with the IATSE, a step to becoming protected workers similar to those in unions like the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA.

“For almost half a century, workers in the visual effects industry have been denied the same protections and benefits their coworkers and crewmates have relied upon since the beginning of the Hollywood film industry,” IATSE VFX organizer Mark Patch said in a statement when the unionization was first announced last week. “This is a historic first step for VFX workers coming together with a collective voice demanding respect for the work we do.”

“Turnaround times don’t apply to us, protected hours don’t apply to us, and pay equity doesn’t apply to us,” added VFX coordinator Bella Huffman. “Visual effects must become a sustainable and safe department for everyone who’s suffered far too long and for all newcomers who need to know they won’t be exploited.”

Barring any surprise developments, the upcoming IATSE vote should pass, which would make Marvel’s visual effects workers the first unionized VFX group in the entirety of Hollywood.

Why are Marvel visual effects workers unionizing?

Marvel has been increasingly scrutinized for putting its vendors through a crunch with its films.

“This was like a second wave of what happened with James Cameron on Titanic, where the compositors were basically taking naps under their desks, because there wasn’t enough time between shifts to go back home, then come back,” an anonymous VFX technician told Vulture earlier this year. “Now, the entirety of the industry that has been touched by Marvel is permanently seared, and that’s what’s causing the most burnout.”

“A lot of us are sitting here thinking, The money is there. Why is it not coming down? Marvel spending a bit more money to pay more VFX people wouldn’t make that much of a difference for the executives all the way at the top,” another source told the site. “But if it comes down to them not being comfortable with their bank numbers and us working until burnout, we lose out every time. Honestly, I equate it to human greed.”

The IATSE vote only affects Marvel’s in-house VFX numbers and not the hundreds—potentially thousands—of the employees working for the vendors Marvel outsources on any given project.