Animation workers at Powerhouse Animation Studios in Texas voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first union contract.
Ninety-six percent of voting members at the Austin-based union Castlevania The producer supported the deal in a vote, the Animation Guild announced Tuesday. The Hollywood Reporter The company previously reported that the 100-plus-member bargaining unit includes both production workers and studio artists, serving in roles such as animator, background designer and production assistant.
The Powerhouse Animation Studios contract is just the second that Animation Guild members have ratified outside of Los Angeles County, as the union continues to expand its reach beyond Southern California. (The first was at Titmouse New York, whose union members ratified their first contract in June 2023.)
Key provisions of the new contract were not immediately available, though the union’s chief negotiator described it as “one of the strongest agreements” the union has ever reached. “This is one of the strongest agreements we have ever been able to negotiate, and the crew’s determination regarding their priority issues is the reason why,” company representative Steve Kaplan said in a statement. “I also want to recognize the work that Powerhouse and its leadership team did. We all had to be flexible to get to the finish line, and they demonstrated their commitment to being a productive partner with the union in the negotiations.”
Outside of Texas, Powerhouse Animation Studios has a small studio in Los Angeles that already has a contract with the Animation Guild.
In a statement, Powerhouse Animation Studios CEO and CMO Brad Graeber said the company was “proud and ecstatic” that the union ratified the deal. “When we expanded to Los Angeles, we started a good relationship with the union and have worked with them for years. But we are proud to be a studio that started in Austin, with deep roots in Texas. Having an animation union in Texas is a huge deal, and we are happy to be a part of this historic first,” he said.
The contract marks the culmination of a unionization drive that first became public in April 2023, when workers stated at the time that they were seeking to institute greater pay equality and job security with the campaign. In July of that year, the studio voluntarily recognized the union.
