SAG-AFTRA & National Public Radio have reached an agreement on a new nationwide contract for 521 NPR employees. This includes hosts, correspondents newscasters, reporters and editors.
Members approved the contract Thursday by a vote of 324–4, with the executive board of the union’s Washington-Mid Atlantic Local ratifying the agreement by a unanimous vote that same day. The final approval is subject to the review and ratification of the contract by the SAG/AFTRA national executive board later in the month.
“Congratulations to SAG-AFTRA members at NPR on their new contract,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher. “The power of collective action was on display for all to see with the successful ‘Wherever we are, we make NPR’ social media campaign. It demonstrates what’s possible when members stay engaged and stand together. We thank NPR for recognizing the significant contributions of our SAG-AFTRA members.”
“Members led our team in shaping this contract,”Duncan Crabtree-Ireland is the national executive director for SAG-AFTRA. “Through their persistence and dedication, they achieved a contract that values the work they do by providing commitments on advancing equity and inclusion, increased parental leave, a more equitable pay structure and a commitment to pursue additional enhancements that improve work-life balance. This deal frees them to continue to do what they do best: create high-quality programming.”
NPR CEO John Lansing said that “the productive relationship between NPR and our unions has been essential during this ongoing pandemic, and the conversations we have had with SAG-AFTRA and NABET (the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians) have helped us navigate through multiple crises these past months. Since my arrival at NPR, I’ve been thinking about how we can increase our support for employees during this pandemic and throughout their career. This contract outlines several of the advancements I have been pondering for some time. These include those that address our diversity, equity and inclusion priorities.
“I’m proud to have represented the hundreds of journalists at NPR and proud to have worked cooperatively with NPR in negotiating this contract,” said Becky Sullivan, a reporter on NPR’s NewsDesk and a leading member of the union’s negotiating team. “I know it will help NPR’s producers, editors, reporters, hosts, newscasters and other staff do the very best work we can, while also helping NPR live up to its public service mission to the American people.”
Highlights of this contract include:
- Up to 5% Pay Increases per Year through 2025
- Twenty weeks of fully paid parental leave – up from the previous eight weeks – and 26 weeks of job protection for leave taken for the birth, adoption, foster or other placement of a child;
- A commitment that at least 30% of external candidates interviewed for regular bargaining unit positions be from underrepresented groups that advance NPR’s diversity goals;
- Improved minimum wage system to increase transparency and equity in pay. These new minimums will result in an additional increase of approximately 150 SAGAFTRA-covered employees.
- Transparenter promotions