Leadership of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is calling on the Department of Justice to block the proposed ParamountWarner Bros. unless worker protections are put in place.

Union leaders announced on Thursday that they had filed a report outlining key concerns about the $111 billion mega-transaction with the Department of Justices Antitrust Division and that they are pushing for the transaction to be blocked unless their concerns are addressed.

The unions input is especially consequential because Teamster general president Sean OBrien is a labor ally of President Donald Trump and previously played a role in the nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Labor secretary. This merger threatens the livelihoods of the very workers who built these studios into industry giants, OBrien said in a statement. Weve seen what happens when corporations consolidate power: jobs disappear, production leaves American communities, and workers pay the price. The DOJ has a responsibility to stop deals that eliminate competition and harm working families. Unless Paramount and Warner Bros. can guarantee enforceable protections for domestic production and labor standards, this merger cant be allowed to move forward.

Lindsay Dougherty, the head of the unions motion picture division, called the transaction the last thing the industry needs.

Dougherty added, This story is not new. Greed-fueled consolidation of corporate power is a direct threat to good union jobs and the livelihood of our members. We will not stand by while corporate executives try to consolidate power even further at the expense of the people who make every movie, every show, and every streaming platform possible.

The Teamsters join the Writers Guild of America in vociferously opposing the deal. We have every reason to believe this merger would have a detrimental effect on writers and naturally everyone in the industry, union president Michele Mulroney told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview. Other major industry unions have yet to go public with their position since Paramount outbid Netflix for the historic studio in late February.

More to come.