Workers at Portland-based Image Comics announced Nov. 1 that they’re forming a union Comic Book Workers United, affiliated with Communications Workers of America (CWA). The announcement drew immediate congrats from national AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler.
Founded in 1992 by a group of prominent comic book creators, Image Comics has become the third largest comics publisher in the United States. It’s best known for the Spawn comic book series and for Invincible, a comic series that Amazon adapted as an animated series this year.
But a statement signed by nine 10 of the company’s 12 employees says too often they feel their labor is taken for granted and undervalued.
“We love what we do,” they wrote. “But loving what you do doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t ask for improvements to your working conditions.”
Workers are asking the company to voluntarily recognize their union.
CWA Region 7 organizer Ted Hooker says there haven’t been any recognized unions in the comic industry. These workers organized themselves, and then reached out to CWA.
Visit http://bit.ly/cbwupdx to find out more about the campaign and sign up for updates.
11/5/21 UPDATE: Image Comics declined to voluntarily recognize the union by the date workers requested, instead issuing the following statement on Twitter.
