On December 10, workers from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx in-house audio-visual crew’s votes were counted and the workers won a union. With an estimated 80% of the 50 workers submitting ballots, the final vote count was 24 in favor of the union and 17 against. The workers are now a part of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 745.
This win makes the Timberwolves/Lynx audio-visual workers the second audio-visual union in professional sports in Minnesota, following the unionization of the Minnesota United FC’s audio-visual crew in 2022, also with IATSE Local 745.
The audio-visual, in-house crew films and projects the Minnesota professional basketball teams’ home games within the arena, including replays and close-up shots, fan shots, promotions, graphics, and more. Their work supports the basketball team’s overall success by energizing the crowd and supporting the overall experience of fans at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
The fight is far from over, explains Josiah Wollan, a camera operator for the Timberwolves and Lynx. Wollan explains how now workers need to engage in the “nitty-gritty” tasks of identifying what specifically each craft of the audio-visual crew would like to prioritize in a first union contract. The contract demands being floated include improved pay, guaranteed hours, written safety guidelines, healthcare benefits, retirement contributions, and more.
In 2016, the workers first announced their intent to unionize, which led to over a year-long inquiry into their employment classification status. Initially, the Minnesota office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in the team’s favor that the workers were acting as independent contractors. The workers then appealed the decision, and the NLRB in Washington, D.C. then ruled that the workers were employees of the teams’ and therefore, had the right to form a union and collectively bargain.
Before the NLRB ruling in 2017, the workers were misclassified as independent contractors. Misclassification, sometimes referred to as payroll fraud, occurs when companies misidentify workers as independent contractors, even though they act as employees of the company, often in order for the employer to avoid paying the worker benefits, overtime, and insurance. An estimated 10% of workers in the private sector are misclassified, according to one report.
Shortly after the decision by the NLRB, the union vote was scheduled and the union lost by a narrow margin. Workers and union staff alleged union-busting by the teams’ management during that time period leading up to the vote in 2017.
Seven years later, in 2024, the union vote results were reversed, with the union winning by the same margin it lost in the 2017 election. In a press release from IATSE, Justin Conway, an IATSE international representative praised the workers, saying, “This victory is proof that there is wisdom in the old adage, ‘Slow and steady wins the race.’ This group of workers has been in some phase of their organizing process for more than seven years. They never gave in to pressure from management or allowed naysayers to discourage them. They just kept going until it became real. That’s how winning is done.”
In the lead-up to the vote count, Wollan recalls, “We were nervous going in, as anyone would be, especially seven years off the heels of a failed attempt,” in reference to the union’s defeat in 2017. Wollan added that while “not everyone voted for this result, at the end of the day, we’re going to want to do right by everyone, and take into account everyone’s needs and desires heading into bargaining and get the best contract that we can get.”
Jacob Jensen, a camera operator for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, shared in the excitement of the win and added, “Another reason that unionization was important to me was that the team’s value is worth billions of dollars, so I think it’s only fair that workers get a slice of that pie. I encourage workers everywhere to organize and get their slice of the pie too.”
Isabela is the Senior Associate Editor for Workday Magazine.
