Postproduction workers at Saturday Night Live have unionized with the Motion Picture Editors Guild.
Organizing workers won a certified union with the IATSE Local after an independent arbitrator confirmed support for the union through a card check, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. (Deadline was the first to report the news.) The workers, who belong to the NBC late-night show’s film division, work on pretaped sketches for the show, rather than its live elements.
THR has reached out to NBC for comment. The Editors Guild doesn’t represent any other workers on SNL, though several other unions, such as fellow IATSE Locals, SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America, have a presence on set.
It was unclear how large the bargaining unit is as of press time, as a different numbers of workers are brought on each week for the show’s film unit. The number of newly unionized workers could be between 12 and 20 workers.
“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 said in a statement. “We salute them for standing together to have a voice on the job. Behind the scenes and in front of the cameras, a slew of talented artists and craftspeople help to make SNL the cultural touchstone that it is, and much of that talent already enjoys the benefit of union contracts. We’re glad that these editorial employees will now be joining SNL‘s unionized workforce.”
The Editors Guild has recently had some organizing wins in animation, forming unions at BoJack Horseman studio ShadowMachine and Paradise PD studio Bento Box Entertainment in the spring and summer.
Of the recent victory at SNL, Editors Guild president Alan Heim said, “Having a voice on the job isn’t a laughing matter. SNL deserves its status as a legendary comedy series, and the talented people who help make it deserve all the good things a union will bring. We are thrilled to welcome them to the Editors Guild family.”
