Sesame Workshop Writers to Strike Unless ‘Fair’ Deal is Reached

Published: April 18, 2024

Sesame Workshop Writers to Strike Unless ‘Fair’ Deal is Reached

By Movieguide® Contributor

The writers at the Sesame Workshop have decided to go on strike.

In an X post, the Writers Guild of America East wrote, “The unit voted UNANIMOUSLY – with 100% participation – to authorize a strike if management does not reach a fair new contract before their current agreement expires this Friday, April 19.”

WGA members at Sesame Workshop are prepared to strike. 🪧

The unit voted UNANIMOUSLY – with 100% participation – to authorize a strike if management does not reach a fair new contract before their current agreement expires this Friday, April 19. pic.twitter.com/IQU3MZJ1CQ

— Writers Guild of America East (@WGAEast) April 16, 2024

Per Deadline, “The guild says there was 100% participation in the strike-authorization vote from the 35-member bargaining unit. The writers are prepared to walk the picket line if a tentative deal isn’t reached by Friday, which is when the current contract expires. The strike would include any and all work for SESAME STREET.”

A Sesame Workshop spokesperson told Deadline, “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.”

“We are committed to working with Sesame Workshop to codify a fair contract for writers that embodies these values, and which allows the Workshop to continue to attract top-level talent who can artfully create stories that successfully balance entertainment, playfulness, and joy with education and enrichment,” The Writer’s Guild of America Sesame Workshop Negotiating Committee said. “Our demands would be extremely meaningful for the affected writers, particularly those in animation who are currently being excluded from basic union benefits and protections like pension and healthcare.”

President of the Writers Guild of America East, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, added, “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.”

Movieguide® previously reported on the fallout from last year’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes:

Though studios have been able to film again since the actors’ strike ended in December, crew members have found it’s been a slow return as the industry navigates the implications of the new contracts.

“There hasn’t been any real work,” said a location manager based in L.A. “The industry is not back. What’s back is a few things that are doing pickups or needed to restart from things that were shut down before May.”

“We were expecting, especially with the resolution of the strikes, production to be rampant out here. And unfortunately that hasn’t happened,” said Corey Moore, a business agent for IATSE Local 80.

“I literally can count on two hands how many people I know that are actually working right now,” added a set decoration buyer. “That’s now. In January, it was even less.”