Member Stories: NURSING ROOMS

Negotiations 2018:

Why we need Dedicated Nursing Rooms 
in our Contract

By Kristin Donner & Kyle Neswald

Family Leave Subcommittee

For working moms, dedicated nursing rooms may lead to equity and retention in the workforce. We talked with three Animation Guild moms about their workplace experiences. Here’s what we learned.

Teri, a BG designer & painter, was thrilled when her first child arrived. During her brief maternity leave, she learned that babies nurse on their own schedule and that moms need to feel relaxed to express milk well. Our colleague was optimistic when she returned to work at Bento Box Entertainment, where she was told that a nursing room would be designated for her use. To her surprise, she was shown an unused office that doubled as a storage space for broken and unused furniture – a space that technically met State and Federal nursing room requirements.(1) But, this uncomfortable environment brought on stress, which led to reduced milk production, which then led to the stress of not being able to adequately nourish her newborn as she had expected.

Teri hoped for a better nursing room situation on her next production at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. But instead of a private room, she was shown a conference room with a schedule for use. When meetings in the conference room ran late, Teri had to wait in the hallway outside, breast pump in hand, losing valuable work time and becoming more uncomfortable with each passing minute; the longer a nursing mom goes without pumping, the more likely that her milk supply will dwindle with time. More than once, a sympathetic associate producer or director offered up their private office for her use. With plenty of private office space to go around, Teri wondered why she wasn't simply assigned to one to help facilitate her needs as a nursing mom. This lack of consideration sent Teri the message that she – and her baby - were not respected.

Our State and Federal protections for moms 

just aren’t enough.

M., a freelance story editor and mom (who prefers to remain anonymous), showed up at Walt Disney Animation Studios for a scheduled work meeting. Our colleague had inquired in advance about nursing rooms and was told that she could use one at the studio. However, when M. arrived on the floor with the nursing room, the receptionist wouldn’t let her in. Only employees with a particular badge had access, and she didn’t have the right badge. This instance may have resulted from a simple miscommunication between management and security, but it’s an example of an ongoing problem: many working moms are excluded from the benefits of a healthy workplace.

Healthy workplaces allow us to do our best work 

and live our best lives.

Rebecca, a technical director at Walt Disney Animation Studios, had a different experience. Her transition back to work was eased by the availability of a dedicated nursing room featuring comfortable furniture, an efficient hospital-grade pump, a refrigerator, a sink, and a water cooler. After a recent remodel, Disney consulted moms on wall décor and provided a pushpin board for them to proudly display photos of their kids. At Rebecca’s request, Disney’s IT department provided her a laptop so she could continue to work or catch up on emails while pumping. Disney went above and beyond to ensure that Rebecca’s return to work was a success – and she was shocked to learn that her experience is not the norm in our industry.

The discrepancies between studio nursing room experiences, like the ones above, demonstrate a need for change. We need to negotiate standard benefits in our contract that everyone can count on.

Support us as we fight to add Dedicated Nursing Rooms to our contract in 2018. This is OUR time to thrive.

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1. Workplace Support in Federal Law. United States Breastfeeding Committee. 

http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/workplace-law

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