Hollywood’s largest union has gone public with its opposition to the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
In the wake of 12 state attorneys suing to block the $111 billion transaction, the national board for the performers’ union adopted a resolution on Saturday to formally resist the merger and support the regulators’ action. The union says it will oppose the deal unless “enforceable safeguards” are established against a drop in productions from the combined company with “guarantees of increases” in the percentage of films and television shows produced in the U.S.
“Our members have every right to expect that the government will do thorough regulatory oversight when a deal of this magnitude takes place,” SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin said in a statement. “The workers in this industry should not have to rely on promises and aspirational statements. These companies have the ability to commit to making more films and shows in this country and they should. This isn’t a conversation about shareholder value, it’s about the survival of the entertainment business in America.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Paramount Skydance for comment.
SAG-AFTRA is the third major entertainment union to go public with its resistance to the deal, with the Writers Guild of America long being vociferously opposed and on July 14 filing a lawsuit to block the merger. Earlier this year the Teamsters also slammed the deal, urging the Department of Justice to block the transaction (which the department of course did not, ultimately, do) unless worker protections were put in place.
