Double Negative’s (DNEG) Vancouver studio has the go-ahead to form a union under IATSE.

The local labour relations board informed DNEG’s workforce last week (Nov. 15) that they had surpassed the threshold of supporters needed to form a union, becoming the first service-side group of VFX workers in Canada to do so, according to a news release. The next step is for IATSE to negotiate a collective agreement with leadership.

The Vancouver studio, DNEG’s first in North America, has worked on many big-budget films and series in recent years, including Disney’s Jungle Cruise, DC Studios’ Shazam! Fury of the Gods and CBS Studios’ Star Trek: Discovery (pictured).

IATSE previously told Playback sister publication Kidscreen that the recent strikes, a rising cost of living and stagnant wages are driving more animation workers in Vancouver to unionize so they can push for better pay and benefits. The first Canadian animation studio to unionize was Titmouse’s Vancouver studio in 2020.

VFX workers at Walt Disney Pictures voted in favor of unionizing with IATSE last month, and at the end of October, workers at WildBrain Animation Studios in Vancouver passed the level of support needed to form a union.

This story originally appeared in Kidscreen

Photo by Michael Gibson/ViacomCBS