One of Hollywood’s largest labor unions has thrown its support behind Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House — even as its own members have suffered tremendously in the past four years as Bidenomics has wreaked havoc on the entertainment industry, resulting in unprecedented levels of blue-collar unemployment.
IATSE — which represents 170,000 technicians, stagehands, and other craftspeople in Hollywood and on Broadway — announced Monday that it is backing Kamala Harris’ campaign for the White House, which launched Sunday just minutes after Joe Biden said he is quitting the race.
IATSE boss Matthew D. Loeb is a die-hard leftist whom Democrats have come to rely on to steer his vast membership into their camps.
“We honor his [Biden’s] decision not to run for reelection and are committed to doing whatever it takes to elect Vice President Kamala Harris this November,” Loeb said in a prepared statement Monday. He also took a swipe at former President Donald Trump, using the left’s oft-repeated canard that he represents a threat to democracy.
Members of IATSE are facing staggering levels of unemployment as Hollywood studios are slashing their budgets in the wake of Biden’s disastrous economic policies. Many blue-collar crew workers have hunkered down for what they expect to be long-term unemployment.
“This is a full-scale depression for the entertainment industry,” one TV executive recently said.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, sky-high consumer prices have forced households to drastically curtail spending, which in turn has put a serious damper on the advertising market. The decline in ad dollars has forced most major Hollywood conglomerates to slash their budgets, which has meant widespread layoffs and fewer TV shows receiving the greenlight.
Studios that have slashed their budgets in recent months include the Walt Disney Company, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Amazon MGM.
Meanwhile, Hollywood executives continue to rake in enormous compensation packages while also donating in lockstep to Democrats.
But the left’s stranglehold on Hollywood labor could be breaking.
As Breitbart News reported, Teamsters boss Sean M. O’Brien spoke at the recent Republican National Convention after being invited by former President Donald Trump. “I want to thank President Donald Trump for opening the RNC’s doors to the Teamsters Union and inviting me to speak,” O’Brien said.
He later said the Teamsters is gathering input from its members about a presidential endorsement and would wait until after the DNC in August.
The Teamsters represents thousands of Hollywood truck drivers, location managers, mechanics, and even casting directors.
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