The leadership of the International Brotherhood of Truckers calls on the Department of Justice to block Paramount-Warner Bros. proposed unless worker protection measures are put in place.
Union leaders announced Thursday that they have filed a report outlining key concerns about the massive $111 billion deal with the Justice Department’s antitrust division and that they are pushing to block the deal unless their concerns are addressed.
The union’s contribution is especially important because Teamster General President Sean O’Brien is a labor ally of President Donald Trump and previously played a role in the nomination of Lori Chavez De Rimer to be Labor Secretary. Whether O’Brien’s opposition will be able to influence Trump, who has a special relationship with Paramount CEO David Ellison and his billionaire father, Larry Ellison, is another question.
“This merger threatens the livelihoods of the workers who built these studios into industry giants,” O’Brien said in a statement. “We’ve seen what happens when companies merge: Jobs disappear, production leaves American communities, and workers pay the price. The Department of Justice has a responsibility to stop deals that eliminate competition and harm working families. Unless Paramount and Warner Bros. can ensure enforceable protections for domestic production and labor standards, this merger will not be allowed to move forward.”
Although they may be best known for their trucker members, the Teamsters represent about 15,000 entertainment workers across the country, from drivers to animal groomers to casting directors to location professionals.
Paramount executives sought to play down widespread expectations that their blockbuster merger with Warner Bros. would lead to widespread layoffs and reduced production. — The latter would severely impact Teamsters members — But many in Hollywood aren’t buying it. Lindsey Daugherty, president of the Teamsters’ motion picture division, called the deal “the last thing the industry needs.”
“This story is not new. The consolidation of corporate power out of greed is a direct threat to good union jobs and the livelihoods of our members. We will not stand idly by while corporate executives try to further consolidate their power at the expense of the people who make every movie, every show, and every streaming platform,” Dougherty added.
The Teamsters join the Writers Guild of America in strongly opposing the deal. “We have every reason to believe that this merger will have a detrimental impact on writers and of course everyone in the industry,” union president Michelle Mulroney said. Hollywood Reporter In a recent interview.
Other major industry unions have yet to announce their positions since Paramount outbid Netflix for the landmark studio in late February. Some labor leaders were privately rooting for Paramount as the lesser of two evils, and were concerned about the impact that Netflix, which has historically been unfriendly to movie theaters, might have on the theatrical ecosystem.
This is not the first time O’Brien and Dougherty have sparred with Ellison. In 2025, before the Paramount-Skydance merger was finalized, union leaders met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to express their concerns about the merger’s impact on business. The union said it had previously met with Ellison’s Skydance executives twice, but received no commitments in return.
