In the ongoing saga of VFX employees and companies being screwed by major hollywood studios, a new court case is on the horizon where the US is suing two of the biggest names in VFX: Lucasfilm and Pixar. The charge: Antitrust violations.
Lucasfilm and Pixar agreed to a three-part protocol that restricted recruiting of each other’s employees. First, Lucasfilm and Pixar agreed they would not cold call each other’s employees. [snip] Second, they agreed to notify each other when making an offer to an employee of the other firm. Third, they agreed that, when offering a position to the other company’s employee, neither would counteroffer above the initial offer.
The goal is that the two biggest employers of digital animators agreed to a ‘I saw him first’ philosophy, reducing competition in the workplace and limiting employment opportunities for artists. It sounds innocent at first, until you realize it’s a great way to keep wages arbitrarily low (eg “Look, I won’t lure your guys away with more money if you agree not to take mine.”).
via Lee Stranahan: Feds Sues Lucasfilm for Undermining VFX Artists.
