Sesame Workshop employees approve vote for union representation

Sesame Workshop employees won certification of their vote for representation under the Sesame Workers Union Thursday and will now seek their first collective bargaining agreement with management.

In votes cast in April and counted in a National Labor Relations Board office in New York City, the group formally joined the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 153. The bargaining unit includes early childhood education experts, fundraisers, facilities staff, producers and paralegals.

“We can officially say that today, May 15th, is brought to you by the letter U!” said Autumn Sancho, a digital production coordinator for Sesame Workshop, in an OPEIU news release. “Our win is representative of everything Sesame Street stands for and has taught us for generations; the power and importance of community, fairness, kindness, care, and knowing the people in your neighborhood — or as we like to say, the people in our union.”

“Sesame Workshop respects the outcome of today’s vote count and, above all, respects every Sesame Workshop employee,” the nonprofit company said in an email statement to Current. “[W]e remain as committed as ever to fostering a positive and collaborative workplace.”

The Sesame Workers Union announced their intent to seek representation March 4, a day before Sesame Workshop announced staff cuts. Sesame Workshop, producer of Sesame Street and other educational media for children, attributed the job cuts to financial challenges related to the end of its distribution deal with Warner Bros. Discovery and uncertainty over federal funding.

“First and foremost, we’re unionizing because we really love Sesame, and working for the Sesame mission, which is to ensure that children are kinder, stronger and smarter,” said Nancy Chong, manager of global institutional giving at Sesame Workshop, in an interview. “We do believe that we need a union because as individual workers we cannot match the power of Sesame management, especially when it comes to layoffs and huge organizational shifts.”

The workforce reduction in March was accompanied by changes to workers’ benefits, Chong said. Sesame Workshop cut its contributions to its employees’ 401(k) accounts, scrapped bonuses and suspended cost-of-living adjustments. Workshop management has told the OPEIU union that the organization faces “a $40 million gap,” Chong said. The new bargaining unit is seeking more transparency on wages, bonuses, group health insurance, layoff procedures and paid time off.

“They didn’t speak to the possibility of executive staff members, if they could even get a pay cut,” Chong said. “I don’t think it was something they even considered to prevent layoffs or the benefits cuts.”

Tensions between the union and management

On Thursday, Workshop management challenged 23 votes that were disqualified, but the lost votes didn’t change the outcome.

In the months leading up to Thursday’s certification, the union criticized management of “anti-union” tactics, including laying off six employees who organized the union. Each of the organizers spoke at the March 4 rally announcing the workers’ intent to seek recognition under OPEIU.

In its statement, Sesame Workshop said that “the layoffs were planned and fully decided upon well before we were aware of employees’ intent to organize. After we received OPEIU’s demand for recognition, we engaged in active discussions with OPEIU’s representatives to ensure that all eligible employees had an opportunity to vote.” 

Separately, the union accused management of trying to cancel the NLRB election twice and block eligible workers from casting votes on election day.

“The Sesame management trying to cancel our election twice was done without us knowing,” Chong said. “And this was after we had agreed upon the unit number.” Chong added that the Workshop initially declined to check signed cards or voluntarily recognize the union, then attempted to interfere with the election.

A Workshop spokesperson didn’t answer questions about the allegations of anti-union activities.

Of the 200 employees who initially announced their intent to join OPEIU’s bargaining unit, 107 are eligible members. Chong attributed the decrease to multiple factors.

Eligibility for 107 employees was the agreed-upon number by the union and the workshop’s legal counsel and determined who could vote to certify, Chong said. Layoffs also decreased the eligible voters.

Sesame Workshop management has seven days to contest the election, Chong said. Sesame Workshop writers, represented by the Writers Guild of America, East, reached a new five-year agreement with management last year. The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists represents the Sesame Street cast, crew and puppeteers.