‘SNL’: Strike Averted As Editors Reach Tentative Deal With NBC

‘SNL’: Strike Averted As Editors Reach Tentative Deal With NBC

There will be no strike at Saturday Night Live.

The show’s editorial crew, consisting of around 20 employees, who mainly cover post-production, have struck a tentative agreement with NBC.

The move comes after NBC agreed to resolve the labor dispute by the end of the month, and in fact, it seems to have been resolved much quicker than that.

The tentative agreement will result in pay increases of up to 60% ahead of a three-year deal. It also includes ratification bonuses, healthcare benefits, guarantees of employer-paid meals, transportation, and hotel accommodations for employees working long shifts with short turnarounds.

It comes after the Motion Picture Editors Guild, which represents approximately 9,000 post-production professionals, kicked off a fresh round of negotiations with NBCUniversal last week.

SNL has never had a show-specific strike in its nearly 50 year history.

“We are thrilled to have reached this tentative deal,” said Cathy Repola, National Executive Director of Motion Picture Editors Guild. “Thanks to the tremendous resolve of the crew, we reached a deal that represents real achievement in each of the areas our members identified as key, including dramatic improvements in wages. We’ll defer detailed public discussion of the terms until after our negotiators have had a chance to meet with the full crew to review the deal and hold a ratification vote.”