IATSE’s visual effects organizing drive has reached the galaxy far, far away.
A group of on-set VFX professionals working on various Star Wars franchise titles have unionized with IATSE, the crew union announced on Tuesday. A group of workers on titles including the recently released film The Mandalorian and Grogu, the upcoming season of the series Ahsoka and the forthcoming film Starfighter will join IATSE after they demonstrated what the union called “overwhelming” support for joining the labor organization.
“These workers help bring some of the most ambitious stories in entertainment to life, and they deserve a meaningful voice in shaping their working conditions,” IATSE international president Matt Loeb said in a statement. “We are proud to welcome these visual effects professionals into our proud union.”
IATSE did not disclose how many workers were included in the bargaining unit or what roles they play on the Star Wars productions. It also wasn’t clear as of press time where the workers were based or whether the union was voluntarily recognized by the employer, as it appears it was.
The next step for the unionized group will be negotiating a first contract with Lucasfilm. The Disney-owned company did not respond to a request for comment.
The addition of the on-set Star Wars workers is a major development for IATSE, which began its latest attempt to unionize the visual effects field a few years ago. The campaign began with some splashy wins at Marvel and Disney in 2023, and visual effects workers on Avatar unionized the following year. The union has since notched bargaining units in smaller settings — with workers on Saturday Night Live and on Apple TV+ shows, for example — but the Star Wars union adds more blockbuster work to the mix.
With its recent attempt to organize the visual effects field, IATSE has largely homed in on workers employed directly by film and television productions, rather than those working for high-profile vendors like Weta FX and Industrial Light & Magic. It’s generally taken aim at crewmembers including data wranglers, coordinators, production supervisors and witness camera operators.
“Previous attempts were looking essentially to organize the artists of the vendors who are strategically more precarious,” IATSE organizer Mark Patch previously explained to THR.
