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lynette rice
Using fiery language like “solidarity is the solution to corporate greed” and “if we don’t get what we want, we’ll shut it down on day one,” union leaders on Sunday held what was called a “unity rally.” to energize workers before joint negotiations begin Monday between IATSE and Teamsters Local 399 with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Hundreds of workers from all facets of the underground community, from electricians and plasterers to editors, clients, and script supervisors filled a park just west of I-405 in Encino, CA. to prepare for what they hope will be a successful negotiation period with the studios.
To return the favor, since so many low-level workers joined actors and writers on the picket line last summer, SAG and WGA members were front and center to listen to the speeches and shout “many trades, one fight!” along with everyone else.
“Isn’t it great to have a demonstration without a strike?” asked Lindsay Dougherty, lead negotiator for Teamsters Local 399, as she surveyed the parking lot of workers, most of whom wore black, sporty T-shirts that read “equal pay now” and “nothing moves without the crew.”
“This is what solidarity looks like,” Dougherty continued. “As everyone knows, the Teamsters are not afraid of a fight and neither is the IATSE. And even though the WGA and SAG-AFTRA had to strike last year to get what they needed, I’m here to tell the AMPTP (and they know it and that’s why they fear us more) that with IATSE and the Teamsters together, yes no Yes no We get what we want, we’ll close it, damn day one.”
SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland attended the rally to issue a warning about the upcoming talks.
“Studios and streamers will likely use the same tired playbook they used on us last year and the Writers Guild,” he began. “There will be a public disinformation campaign aimed at sowing discord between all of you and us. There will be messages about how their jobs will be replaced by technology. They will say that the lack of work and the termination of the pilot season is the union’s fault. But we all know the truth. It is entrepreneurs who chase quarterly figures instead of a sustainable business model.”
Some of the harshest language Sunday came from Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien, who referred to the studios as “white-collar criminal syndicates.”
“It’s time, brothers and sisters, to make them aware that if you thought you had a fight last summer, … you can’t even predict what’s going to happen to you,” he said. “I have never been so proud to see the courage and conviction to support our brothers and sisters in both respective unions. Because the only thing that is predictable with these companies is…. They are not so bright. One thinks they would have learned last year when they faced two strong unions. Those unions, like the rest of us, don’t have much money. We don’t have the financing but we have intestinal fortitude. We gained courage and conviction to take up the fight. And I think we can all agree that we are desperate and being desperate is great. Being desperate means we don’t care about the consequences of our actions. We don’t care about public relations. What we care about is making sure that our members… who make these white-collar criminal syndicates the success that they are… it’s not about what they’re going to give us. It is about what we will demand and accept in the future. Are you ready to fight?”
IATSE head Matthew Loeb concluded the rally by saying, “we are the antidote to the greed that has been imposed on us.”
“This is our family. Look around at someone you don’t know and tell them you have their back. Because that’s what it’s going to take, folks,” he said. “This is a very clear message that all unions in the entertainment industry are here together. And that has never happened before, but I suspect it will continue to happen in the future as we build strength and solidarity.”