A three-year contract agreement has been reached between NPR and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists just days after station employees sought authorization to strike.
No details of the deal were released, but it provides salary increases, typical union protections and nixes a proposal to pay new hires less than existing employees, according to a SAG/AFTRA statement.
The agreement was reached at 12:08 Sunday morning after the existing contract was extended for 24 hours.
On Friday, NPR’s roughly 400 employees asked SAG/AFTRA’s board for authorization to go on strike. They also asked to set up a “We Make NPR” website with a countdown clock under the headline “The future of NPR is at stake,” according to Variety.
Talks had continued with the aid of a federal mediator.
A key sticking point was the proposal to pay new employees less than their established co-workers.
“Equal pay for equal work,” NPR employee negotiator Rebecca Sullivan told Variety. “We do no want a two-tier pay system for employees who do the same job.”
