Months of negotiations got here to an finish on Friday, July 21 when the Documentary Staff United (DWU) unanimously voted to ratify a two-year contract with the International Documentary Association (IDA), a non-profit that gives grants and normal assist to documentarians and the broader non-fiction movie sector.
“Our contract, our union, and our victorious ratification is a labor of affection and care that will not have been potential with out the continual work of IDA employees, previous and current,” DWU, which is a part of the Communications Staff of America native 9003, stated in a Twitter thread final week.
A number of modifications ratified within the new contract embrace $45,000 in retro pay acknowledged throughout negotiations, $213,000 in direction of adjusted compensation, a rise in employer 401K match from 4% to five%, reproductive well being coverage, gender-affirming insurance policies and pandemic go away coverage in addition to a 66% improve in stipends for “the pricey burden of working from dwelling.”
The DWU assertion continues: “With the simultaneous SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, now’s a time of industry-wide collective motion. Together with our actor and author union siblings, we should stand beside movie employees in any respect ranges – projectionists, cinema employees, programmers, pageant employees, and movie directors, alike. Now could be the time for documentary filmmakers, funders, and supporters to indicate up for documentary movie employees in any respect ranges of the sphere, as we’re very important to the success and sustainability of this {industry}. We implore movie establishments throughout the board to take word.”
Beneath, learn the total letter that IDA interim Government Director Ken Ikeda penned in response to the contract ratification. Ikeda replaces Rick Pérez, who resigned in December after serving as Government Director for a yr and a half (throughout which a majority of IDA’s workers departed).
We’re happy to announce that on Friday, July 21, Worldwide Documentary Affiliation (IDA) and Documentary Staff United/CWA Native 9003 ratified their first two-year contract.
The promise of this settlement conjures up IDA administration and we imagine it represents a second to have a good time the way it will form the documentary discipline and particularly, nonprofit media organizations.
“The documentary discipline and its expertise are irreplaceable. We imagine {that a} profession in documentary must be potential and are pleased with how IDA and DWU have aligned to prioritize this throughout a interval of uncertainty for a lot of within the media and humanities fields,” stated Chris Perez and Grace Lee, Co-Presidents of IDA Board of Administrators.
The contract introduces the next modifications:
$45,000 in retro pay acknowledged throughout negotiations
$213,000 in direction of adjusted compensation
A rise in employer 401K match from 4% to five%
A reproductive well being coverage, gender-affirming insurance policies and pandemic go away coverage
66% improve in stipends for the pricey burden of working from dwelling.
The full value in Yr 1 is simply wanting $300,000. This doesn’t embrace the price of the bargaining course of itself and the extraordinary dedication of time from everybody concerned to construct the airplane whereas flying it.
The price of the contract introduces a big problem for IDA however we’re grateful for the impetus to make modifications that we imagine in, aligning our finances with our values. The standard of labor and the aptitude of IDA as a accomplice, service supplier, and chief is a mirrored image of its individuals. We’re dedicated to establishing a much-needed and new baseline for compensation that we encourage others within the documentary and humanities nonprofit fields to fulfill.
We additionally acknowledge that we’re at first of our journey, and actively studying easy methods to navigate the anxieties that change can introduce and dealing by way of moments when our differing types of communication have led to misunderstanding. Kenyon Johnson, Government Vice President of CWA Native 9003 shared with administration that our negotiations have been among the many finest he’s ever participated in and we’ve got been grateful for the myriad exchanges which have allowed us to talk overtly about profession improvement, administration rights, employee protections, and collective accountability.
It’s not unusual for unionization efforts to be precipitated by a interval of tumult and IDA isn’t any exception. Nevertheless IDA administration and Board have unequivocally supported the unionization effort from its inception. Nonprofit organizations akin to IDA are sustained on the energy of companies and repute. We can’t merely tune working hours for income, improve the amount of manufacturing tied to a product, or cost extra for proprietary infrastructure. Our work is relational and highly effective as a result of we work inside and as a part of the documentary group. We aren’t entitled to your belief and imagine it must be earned. In the direction of that, we invite direct inquiry from anybody all in favour of studying extra.
As of this date, 92% of our workers have lower than two years of tenure with the group. This can be a workers that selected to affix IDA within the midst of questions to hold the group ahead. Within the final two years, programming has been scaled, enhanced, and re-imagined with a sharper give attention to influence; the Nonfiction Entry Initiative has helped IDA rethink how we ship and make our programming accessible and advocate for others to do set up new requirements of observe; Documentary journal is producing weekly content material and re-introducing the beloved “Conversations” sequence to its members; the Screening Sequence have thrived; Getting Actual ’24 is in deep planning to launch simply 19 months after Getting Actual ’22; and we’ve got a lot extra to share as we glance to develop our worldwide partnerships.
Lastly, we’d like to offer a particular due to Louise Rosen for her early management in representing IDA administration, the IDA Board for his or her unflagging assist, and the administration workforce for navigating a posh studying curve with candor and vulnerability. Brian Davis has held the general course of for administration since day one and is deserving of singular credit score for retaining all events knowledgeable.
Congratulations to the DWU and CWA Native 9003. We look ahead to a brilliant documentary future.
Ken Ikeda
Interim Government Director
Worldwide Documentary Affiliation
