The strike threat on Saturday Night Live (SNL) has officially passed. Postproduction workers on the show who are unionized with the Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG) have officially ratified their first contract with the NBC live comedy show, via The Hollywood Reporter.
The bargaining unit of 12-20 staffers unanimously supported the tentative agreement in the vote on Wednesday night. Previously, this unit threatened to go on strike against the show and NBCU because they felt that NBCU had refused them “fair compensation, refused to commit to maintaining existing health benefits, & refused to show SNL’s post crew the respect they deserve” via The Hollywood Reporter. If a deal was not made before April 1st, the union would go forward with their strike.
This new agreement is said to offer these postproduction workers immediate wage raises ranging from 7.5 to 33.5 percent increases in comparison to their previous pay rates. They will now be part of a three year contract, one in which workers’ pay raises will eventually increase up to 60 percent. All crew members on SNL will receive healthcare coverage as a result of this new deal, and they will be able to receive employer-paid meals, hotel stays and transportation if they work especially late hours. “A joint commitment” was also said to have been formed to improve diversity, equity and inclusion among these workers.
The postproduction workers, who work on the pre-taped segments of the show that are aired when the episode goes live, first formed their union with MPEG in October 2022 after management voluntarily recognized the group. “This talented editorial crew works at breakneck speed under extraordinarily tight schedules in order to ensure Saturday Night Live‘s timely satire makes it to the screen each week,” Editors Guild second vice president Louis Bertini shared in a statement at the time. “We salute them for standing together to have a voice on the job.”