AVU launches new Ethical Animation and VFX Charter

AVU launches new Ethical Animation and VFX Charter

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE: https://bectu.org.uk/news/avu-launches-new-ethical-animation-and-vfx-charter/

29 March 2021

The Animation and VFX Union (AVU) – powered by BECTU – are excited to announce the launch of their Ethical Animation & VFX Charter.

Close to 12 months ago, our sector faced extraordinary upheaval when Animation and VFX employers cut through their workforce behind the smokescreen of Covid-19.

Since then, the AVU has created an Ethical Animation and VFX Charter to outline the issues that need addressing to improve our industry. The aim is to get employers and other industry bodies to sign up to the goals in the charter. These goals cover fair pay, social justice and sustainability, respect and protections for workers in this industry.

Joe Pavlo, the Chair of the AVU Branch of Bectu said:

“The VFX and Animation industries are full of creative, tech-savvy professionals, who love their craft. It is an exciting, fast-moving industry, but – sometimes – it also has features that are not found in industries that are sustainable and fair towards their workers.

“This Charter outlines our goals as a union and what we feel needs addressing. We want to work with employers to improve our industry. We believe that there is nothing in here that any good employer would not sign up to, and it is something that the majority of workers in our industry can get behind.”

The AVU will work with employers and other industry bodies to sign up to this basic charter. Where necessary, our union will encourage workers in the industry to stick together to achieve these aims.

For further enquiries, please contact animvfxunion@gmail.com

Download the Charter.

VFX Gender Pay Gap in the UK

Why is it that women in VFX with equal qualifications, skills and experience are paid less than men?

After last summer's BBC report sparked an uproar on gender pay gap there has be a new surge on finding out what really is the gap. But that's the BBC, surely the Visual Effects Industry is nothing like that, right?!Unfortunately that is not the case. These are the official reports: 

Double Negative

"Women’s mean* hourly rate is 19.8% lower than men’swhen comparing mean hourly rates, women earn 80p for every £1 that men earn.Women’s median** hourly rate is 22.8% lower than men’swhen comparing median hourly rates, women earn 77p for every £1 that men earn." 

Framestore

"Women’s mean hourly rate is 14% lower than men’swhen comparing mean hourly rates, women earn 86p for every £1 that men earn.Women’s median hourly rate is 16.4% lower than men’swhen comparing median hourly rates, women earn 84p for every £1 that men earn."

Industrial Light & Magic

"Women’s mean hourly rate is 25.5% lower than men’swhen comparing mean hourly rates, women earn 74p for every £1 that men earn.Women’s median hourly rate is 29.2% lower than men’swhen comparing median hourly rates, women earn 71p for every £1 that men earn."

Moving Picture Company

"Women’s mean hourly rate is 23.8% lower than men’swhen comparing mean hourly rates, women earn 76p for every £1 that men earn.Women’s median hourly rate is 28.3% lower than men’swhen comparing median hourly rates, women earn 72p for every £1 that men earn."

These were the large VFX companies in the UK that provided the data (all companies in the UK with 250 employees or more are required by law to provide gender pay gap data) - smaller studios were not required by law to provide this data. In their reports, each of the four companies above - except ILM - made pledges of bridging the gap by taking different steps such us diversity promotion and supporting women - yet none of them addressed the real issue - why are women in VFX getting paid less than men?After all these reports and pledges, will companies act on that and start paying their female staff equally? Will they address the underlying problems in VFX that make this disparity possible? We will have to wait until the next report for hard evidence of their intentions. In the meantime, it is time to face up to facts in the visual effects industry and for us all to keep up the pressure for facilities to do something about their gender pay gap problem. BECTU, the VFX Union is committed to equality in the workplace. By joining the union you can support this cause and help make the VFX industry a stronger and more ethical industry.Need inspiration? Here's a couple of things to pump you up! Take a few minutes to watch Stacey Smith's TED talk in 2016 and Frances McDormand's 2018 Oscar acceptance speech which taught the world a new phrase: inclusion rider***.

Can the UK VFX facilities come up with an "inclusion rider" of their own? The VFX Union wants to see men and women paid equally based on their skills and experience and not their gender. By organising together, we can make this happen!

*The mean hourly rate is the average hourly wage across the entire organization so the mean gender pay gap is a measure of the differencebetween women’s mean hourly wage and men’s mean hourly wage.**The median hourly rate is calculated by ranking all employees from the highest paid to the lowest paid,and taking the hourly wage of the person in the middle; so the median gender pay gap is the differencebetween women’s median hourly wage (the middle paid woman) and men’s median hourly wage (the middle paid man).*** "An “inclusion rider” is a clause that an actor can insist be inserted in their contract that requires cast and crew on a film to meet a certain level of diversity. " (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/05/what-is-an-inclusion-rider-frances-mcdormand-oscars-2018)

Resources:Official goverment website:https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/DNeghttps://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/viewing/employer-details?e=xrdzedeG52P3mfCmvaBqlA%21%21ILMhttps://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/viewing/employer-details?e=FIy5v1XTqqQ2F676WWpOSA%21%21Moving Picture Companyhttps://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/viewing/employer-details?e=Cc0NmCM8lWxaU2jm99ChnA%21%21Framestorehttps://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/viewing/employer-details?e=Hrcq2dhRWi7ID_u7z62LxQ%21%21