Leadership of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is calling on the Department of Justice to block the proposed Paramount–Warner Bros. unless worker protections are put in place.
Union leaders announced on Thursday that they had filed a report outlining key concerns about the $111 billion mega-transaction with the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and that they are pushing for the transaction to be blocked unless their concerns are addressed.
The union’s input is especially consequential because Teamster general president Sean O’Brien is a labor ally of President Donald Trump who previously played a role in the nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Labor secretary.
“This merger threatens the livelihoods of the very workers who built these studios into industry giants,” O’Brien said in a statement. “We’ve seen what happens when corporations consolidate power: jobs disappear, production leaves American communities, and workers pay the price. The DOJ has a responsibility to stop deals that eliminate competition and harm working families. Unless Paramount and Warner Bros. can guarantee enforceable protections for domestic production and labor standards, this merger can’t be allowed to move forward.”
Lindsay Dougherty, the head of the union’s motion picture division, called the transaction “the last thing the industry needs.”
Dougherty added, “This story is not new. Greed-fueled consolidation of corporate power is a direct threat to good union jobs and the livelihood of our members. We will not stand by while corporate executives try to consolidate power even further at the expense of the people who make every movie, every show, and every streaming platform possible.”
More to come.
