SNL editors vote to ratify their first-ever contract; planned April 1 strike will not take place
The post-production crew at NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” unanimously ratified their first-ever union contract. https://t.co/ocCcg3DT63
- Variety (@Variety) March 23, 2023
• Back in early March, the SNL postproduction team announced that they would be going on strike on Saturday, April 1. This announcement came after months of stalled contract negotiations. It was reported that NBC was not communicating with the postproduction team or their union, the Editors Guild.
• Today it was announced that NBC and the SNL team had reached an agreement on Wednesday night and that the SNL team has signed its first ever contract. This means that no strike will take place and the April 1st Quinta Brunson/Lil Yachty episode will go on as planned.
• The postproduction crew is made up of 12-20 members and they joined the Editors Guild in October 2022. The crew works under an intense time crunch and turn out elaborate pre-taped segments in under a week, and they were paid rates "far below industry standards" until now.
• The contract goes into effect immediately and will run until the summer of 2026. "Under the terms of the contract, workers will see pay hikes of up to 60%, in addition to immeiate ratification bonuses. Every member of the crew will receive initial increases, ranging from 7.5% to 33.5%, effective upon the show's return from hiatus next week. It will also provide healthcare benefits for all crew members as well as provisions for meals, hotel stays, and car services given the nontraditional working hours of the long-running NBC sketch series. A joint commitment was also made to promote diversity, equity and inclusion on the crew."
• The National Executive Director of the Editors Guild provided a quote to Variety saying, "the solidarity and bravery of this crew are just so impressive. They fought not just to improve their own working lives; they have also set a standard that will benefit all those who follow in their footsteps at this TV comedy institution."
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