Tangent Animation Ordered To Pay Workers Who Were Abruptly Laid Off

One of the most surprising stories of the year happened back in August when the Canadian animation studio Tangent Animation, which produced the animation for Netflix’s Maya and the Three, abruptly shut down. Tangent, a non-union company, terminated these employees without notice and without paying the termination and severance pay they were owed under employment standards legislation.

The IATSE was approached by former employees of Tangent Animation who were seeking support following the company’s shut down in Toronto and Winnipeg. IATSE immediately wrote to Tangent to demand they pay their workers what was owed to them. The union also wrote to the ministries responsible for employment standards enforcement in each province to ensure they were aware of the situation and to demand an immediate investigation into the matter. IATSE then took steps to provide free legal support to all terminated workers by educating them on their legal rights and by providing them with step by step assistance on how to file and successfully pursue employment standards complaints in each province. IATSE staff were also available to lend support and to answer any questions that workers had throughout the process.

On Decade17, IATSE announced that multiple government agencies in Canada have ordered Tangent to pay what’s owed to former employees. For the former studio’s Toronto location, the order came from Ontario’s Ministry of Labor, Training, and Skills Development, while the Winnipeg order was issued from the Department of Finance–Manitoba Employment Standards.

“Today we learned that Tangent has been ordered to pay their former employees what they were owed in accordance with provincial laws,” stated Matt Loeb, IATSE International President. “This order will see hundreds of thousands of dollars go directly into the pockets of workers.”

“The IATSE will stand up for animation workers in every province of this country regardless of whether they are actually members of the IATSE,” continued John Lewis, IATSE International Vice President and Director of Canadian Affairs. “When we were informed of these mass layoffs, we immediately began to put supports in place for these workers.The animation industry is very precarious, and these workers need strong union support to defend their rights and improve their working conditions”.