‘Sesame Street’ Writers Avoid Strike With Last-Minute Agreement
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Sesame Workshop writers have made a tentative agreement with management, the Writers Guild of America announced on Friday, narrowly skirting what would’ve been one of the first strikes spearheaded by unionized Sesame Workshop writers had they not reached a deal today.
Sesame Workshop is a nonprofit organization that produces Sesame Street. Unionized writers at Sesame Workshop, represented by the Writers Guild of America East and Writers Guild of America West, write scripts on shows like Sesame Street, Helpsters, and The Not Too Late Show With Elmo.
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“We are so proud to work for an organization that values its writers, and we believe this new contract will positively impact writers throughout the children’s media landscape,” the WGA Sesame Workshop Negotiating Committee said in a statement Friday. “’S’ truly is for Solidarity. We are glad to have a contract in place that allows Sesame to do what it does best — lead.”
The Workshop’s bargaining unit will vote to ratify the agreement in the coming days, the WGA said.
The agreement comes days after Writers Guild members on both coasts voted unanimously to authorize a strike if they were unable to reach a new agreement by Friday. Since negotiations had begun on Feb. 13, writers have pushed for “industry standard” annual raises, residual increases (or payments writers receive for TV and film projects after initial compensation), and union benefits like pension and healthcare for Sesame Workshop’s animation and social media components.
Per the announcement, the union won “historic jurisdiction, minimum rates for animation and new media programs produced by Sesame, protections against artificial intelligence, paid parental leave benefits and substantial improvements to new media residuals.”
“The writers that Sesame Workshop hires are deeply committed to the work that we do,” wrote WGA Sesame Workshop negotiating committee members in a press release earlier this week. “Like the Workshop itself, we are mission-driven and child-focused, and we work hard at telling stories that contribute to the Workshop’s curricula inspired by heart, curiosity, community, kindness, diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Members of the Sesame Workshop negotiating committee added they were committed to establishing a fair contract and attracting “top-level” talent, with the goal of writing stories that balance “entertainment, playfulness, and joy with education and enrichment.”
“Sesame Workshop writers won a new agreement that recognizes the value of the incredible work they do to educate and enlighten children around the world,” Writers Guild president Lisa Takeuchi Cullen said in a statement on Friday. “This contract could not have been achieved without the solidarity and fortitude shown by the entire bargaining unit throughout the negotiations. Workers win when they stand together.”
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