IATSE and Teamsters Warn of Another Hollywood Strike at Massive Rally: ‘Put Your Helmets On’

variety.com:

IATSE and the Teamsters and Basic Crafts will then bargain their separate agreements, with the hope of having the deals ratified by the deadline.

At the rally, Matthew Loeb, the international president of IATSE, struck a somewhat more moderate tone than O’Brien, repeatedly emphasizing, “There’s enough to go around.” He also addressed one of the key issues in the negotiations — artificial intelligence — saying it should not be used to replace workers, but also that it has the potential to lighten the load. “Those advantages need to take the pressure off our jobs, so we can enjoy our families and live these lives, and not have to work 80-hour weeks,” Loeb said. “If that efficiency comes, it needs to come to us and our jobs.

And we will use that to do our jobs better. But we want some of the spoils of artificial intelligence.” O’Brien, who built a national profile last year with a threat to strike at UPS, was more combative. “We have a message for the white collar crime syndicates known as the studios,” he said. “When you fuck with the Teamsters, or any other union, it’s a full contact sport.

Put your helmets on and buckle your chin straps.” Thirteen IATSE locals work under the Basic Agreement, including the International Cinematographers Guild and the Motion Picture Editors Guild.