S is for strike. And there could be one coming to the writers room on long-running series Sesame Street if Sesame Workshop management doesn’t agree to a new collective bargaining agreement on the table.
The non-profit company’s writers who are represented by the Writers Guild of America East and West voted (with 100% participation) to authorize a strike if the new proposed agreement isn’t signed before their current contract expires on April 19. In that case, writers are prepared to start picketing outside of Sesame Workshop’s offices in New York on April 24.
A 35-member bargaining unit has been negotiating since February 13. They’ve been asking for industry-standard annual raises and residual improvements. The agreement would also give the writers working on Sesame’s animation and social segments basic union benefits and protections like healthcare and pensions, which they aren’t getting now, according to the WGA Sesame Workshop Negotiating Committee.
WGAE president Lisa Takeuchi Cullen didn’t mince words in a statement that was released yesterday. “No one wants to see a picket line on Sesame Street. Millions of parents and families around the world are going to have a lot of questions. They might ask why the bosses at Sesame Workshop are ignoring their company’s own messages of kindness and fairness.”
Sesame Workshop values its writers and is eager to sign a new agreement, says a company spokesperson. “Our writers are integral members of our creative team, and we are engaged in good-faith negotiations with the WGA. We’re still hopeful that we’ll come to an agreement in advance of the expiration.”