Union Leaders Rally Members Of IATSE & Teamsters Before AMPTP Talks Begin; “If We Don’t Get What We Want, We Will Shut It Down”

deadline.com:

Using fiery language like “solidarity is the solution to corporate greed” and “if we don’t get what we want, we will shut it f–king down day one,” union leaders on Sunday held what was dubbed a “unity rally” to rev up 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 below-the-line community, from electrical workers and plasterers to editors, costumers and script supervisors packed a park just west of the 405 in Encino, CA.

to gear up for what they hope will be a successful negotiation period with the studios. To return the favor since so many below-the-line workers joined actors and writers on the picket line last summer, members of SAG and WGA were front and center to hear the speeches and yell “many crafts one fight” along with everybody else. “Isn’t it great to have a rally without a strike?” asked Lindsay Dougherty, chief negotiator for Teamsters Local 399, while looking out over a parking lot workers — most of whom wore black and sported shirts that read “pay equity now” and “nothing moves without the crew.” “This is what solidarity looks like,” Dougherty continued. “As everybody knows, Teamsters aren’t afraid of a fight and IATSE isn’t either.

And although WGA and SAG-AFTRA had to strike last year to get what they needed, I’m here to tell the AMPTP — and they know and that’s why they fear us the most — that with IATSE and Teamsters teamsters together, if we don’t get what we want, we will shut it down f–king day one.” “We will shut them down for good,” Lindsay Dougherty tells the crowd at the IATSE and Hollywood Basic Crafts rally (