SNL VFX Crew Ratifies First Union Contract With IATSE

Fifteen visual-effects artists employed by NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” have unanimously ratified their first collective-bargaining agreement after organizing with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees last October, the union said Monday. The deal, reached after talks that began in April 2025, establishes a minimum wage scale, ongoing health-care coverage, annuity contributions and a formal grievance process. It also introduces “kill fees” for artists whose work is scrapped before completion and sets safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence and outsourcing. The pact marks the first union contract for an in-house VFX team in New York and extends a recent string of IATSE wins as the union pushes to organize visual-effects crews across film and television.