Teamsters Boss Lindsay Dougherty: One-on-One

Who'll stop strike three? Of the 'evil empire' AMPTP, 'none of them like each other, so it's hard to get anything done.' Plus: International TV upfront preview

$%@! RALLY CRY Lindsay Dougherty joined the WGA and SAG picket outside Amazon Studios last July. (Photo illustration by The Ankler; Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images)

Nearly every writer and studio staffer I’ve spoken to has been self-soothing with the mantra “things will pick up starting in February or March.” Now, as February closes out, I’m not sure that’s actually happened. (Though if it has been going well for you, feel free to humblebrag at elaine@theankler.com.)

Today, we’re one week out from IATSE starting its negotiations over two contracts that impact 60,000 Hollywood crew members and stagehands — most of them in SoCal. Lest ye forget, they are also going to the bargaining table arm in arm with the Teamsters and other Hollywood Basic Crafts to discuss pension and health benefits collectively for the first time since 1988.

After examining IATSE’s near-strike in 2021 and its implications this time around, today we’re talking Teamsters. The legendary union played a key role during the WGA strike when its members refused to cross picket lines, shutting down productions — and forcing studios to notice. (The Teamsters cover everyone from drivers to animal wranglers to casting directors.)

I talk with Lindsay Dougherty, Local 399’s magnetic, foul-mouthed, Jimmy Hoffa-tatted union boss who fired up writers and performers at rallies last year with talk of solidarity and studio resistance (and calls for the “evil empire” AMPTMP to be “fucking extinct.” Ahead of negotiations, she says her members have “seen extreme frustration beyond our imagination,” but also tells me, “Ultimately, the goal for us as negotiators is to get a deal without a strike, and that’s exactly what we're going to aim for.”

In our frank conversation, Dougherty opens up about:

• What she thinks is wrong with the AMPTP and its members

• If she thinks the WGA and SAG-AFTRA will have their back

• How their members “don’t feel appreciated” by employers

• Her workers’ crisis of not making a living wage in Southern California

• The boom-bust of job growth post-pandemic to today

• How streaming residuals are linked to pension and healthcare

Also: Correspondent Manori Ravindran shares her preview of the London TV Screenings, i.e. the international upfronts.