Writers Guild of America members employed by Sesame Workshop have struck a tentative contract deal with management, averting a strike after negotiations stalled over compensation and union representation for the nonprofit organization's animation and social media staff. The bargaining unit of 35 — which includes the 'Sesame Street' writing staff — and Sesame Workshop settled on a new five-year contract Friday, the day their previous agreement expired.
Picketing would have commenced Wednesday outside Sesame Workshop's offices in New York City if the workers and management could not settle their labor dispute. “The writers that Sesame Workshop hires are deeply committed to the work that we do,' the union's negotiating committee said in a statement earlier this week.