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CWA/DWU and IDA reach tentative agreement on initial 2-year contract

By IDA Admin


CWA, DWU, and IDA logos

Communication Workers of America Local 9003 (CWA) and International Documentary Association (IDA) are proud to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement on our groundbreaking Collective Bargaining Agreement for Documentary Workers United (DWU). We are aiming to ratify our 2-year contract in the next 45 days.

This is an important moment for the documentary field. We hope that others follow suit in recognizing, investing in, and supporting documentary workers.

Our tentative agreement includes over 80 proposals that we negotiated beginning in October 2022. We are proud that our tentative agreement includes:

  • An average of a 20-30% wage increase, with a baseline minimum of $30/hr
  • A guaranteed annual rate increase
  • Differential pay for additional labor
  • A comprehensive reproductive health policy

“We feel this is a great first contract,” said CWA Local 9003’s Executive Board Member, Kenyon Johnson. “Though we faced some difficult moments, we made it through. I hope we did our members proud, and that the Bargaining Unit votes to ratify.”

“The bargaining process has been invaluable for IDA, requiring us to navigate a steep learning curve around unionization and allowing us to negotiate and align around shared values.” - Ken Ikeda, IDA Interim Executive Director.

Finally, we owe this tentative agreement not only to our current staff, who fight tirelessly for a better work environment but to all the previous IDA staff members who collectively exercised their right to unionize on March 14, 2022. 

Sincerely,

Anisa Hosseinnezhad

Gabriella Ortega Ricketts

Kenyon Johnson

DWU Bargaining Committee Member, IDA Membership & Individual Giving Program Manager

DWU Bargaining Committee Member, IDA Manager of Artist Programs

Executive Board Member, CWA Local 9003

Ken Ikeda

Brian J. Davis

IDA Interim Executive Director

IDA Development Director

 


Press Contact:
Zaferhan Yumru
IDA Director of Communications
zaf@documentary.org