SNL/NBC Universal
Saturday night Live May go on strike on April Fools’ Day and, no, this is not a joke.
Post-production editors of the long-running NBC parody show are planning an April 1 walkout after continuing to negotiate for higher pay and better health benefits.
Back in October, crew members unionized with the Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG), initially resulting in the Guild approaching NBC Universal with a slate of labor proposals in December. NBC Universal made a counter-offer a month later, which Guild deemed “unacceptable”. Since then the talks have stalled.
The post-production crew shouldered a heavy workload, including editing the many pre-taped segments of the “live” shows.
The Guild clarified that NBC Universal continues to reject the union’s proposals by offering annual raises that lag behind industry standards.
assistant editor on snl Earn a lower hourly wage than your industry counterparts, which is a main focus for MPEG. Another issue the guild is spotlighting is that NBCU’s practice of hiring freelance subcontractors hinders the collective bargaining rights of full-time workers. For obvious reasons, MPEG believes that this labor practice can be abused to negatively impact the fair compensation of employees.
Alan Heim, president of the Motion Pictures Editors Guild, spoke DiversitySaying, “The strike is not funny, and it is also not funny that NBCU is prompting us to take this step to guarantee fair pay and benefits for our members.”
It’s worth noting that MPEG represents about 9,000 post-production workers nationwide.
However, there is a hint of optimism; NBCU sources said the company is determined to reach an agreement before April 1. as well as, snl Cast members Colin Jost and James Austin Johnson (known for their accurate impression of Donald Trump) wore “contract now” T-shirts at the end of the February 3 episode as a sign of solidarity with the crew. Hein believes that this helps tremendously.
He responded by saying, “These workers play an important role in making snl The comedy institute that it is and they deserve the same standards that the other crew is held to. That’s why we’re so grateful for the support we’ve had from other craft and cast members on the show. This support is helping to ensure that management will ultimately do the right thing.”