Trump-friendly Teamsters could still object to Paramount merger: Exclusive
Ellison's Skydance faces another challenge in getting Paramount merger approved
The Trump-influential Teamsters want to protect jobs at CBS parent Paramount which has become the next hurdle in the Ellisons controversial bid to buy the company, JOBs has learned.
Paramount earlier this month reached a $16 million settlement with President Trump over his suit alleging voter interference after CBS edited a 60 Minutes interview with Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris.
The Teamsters want the Federal Communications Commission to place conditions on Skydance Media’s controversial $8 billion purchase of Paramount. Larry Ellison, worth $280 billion, backs Skydance which his son David runs.
Interestingly, the Teamsters and the right-leaning Center for American Rights have partnered on the effort calling on FCC Chair Brendan Carr to save jobs at Paramount’s 15 CBS-owned stations.
If Carr does not, there is a real threat that at least one of these organizations will publicly oppose the merger making the Skydance-Paramount tie-up look even more illegitimate, JOBs has learned.
The two organizations without worker protections may also push the FCC to consider alternative bids for Paramount like one being floated by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Project Rise that would pay more to common Paramount shareholders, sources said.
“I’d be interested in seeing what their bid looks like,” Daniel Suhr of the Center for American Rights told JOBs. “We are actively engaged with a wide variety of stakeholders.”
Lawyer David Goodfriend on behalf of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and its Hollywood Local 399, and Suhr met on July 7 with FCC Deputy Division Chief David Brown and FCC Attorney Chris Robbins, according to an FCC public document.
“As part of its process, the FCC owes stakeholders and the American public a robust review of this transaction. Rubberstamping the transaction as-is does not serve the public interest,” Suhr, whose non-profit litigated cases to stop nationwide public health mandates and expand school choice, said in the filing.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention and is known to have real influence with Trump.
The FCC staff is far along in writing its order approving the merger which may or may not be contingent on Skydance accepting certain workforce conditions, a source close to the situation said.
It’s ‘up in the air’ whether the FCC will include workplace protections, Suhr told JOBs. “I am optimistic we will see some progress.”
“I think we are in 8th and not the 9th inning of the approval process,” Suhr said, partly because the US Senate only confirmed new FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty June 18 and she needs a little time to review all the material on the Skydance merger.
The Teamsters and the Center for American Rights have told the FCC what conditions they would like to see placed on the merger, public filings showed.
On May 5, the Teamsters said in a letter to the FCC it wanted Paramount to maintain staffing levels as they were on July 7, 2024, when the merger was signed, at its stations --- for eight years --- and not with the use of contractors, temporary workers, or reassignment of duties to part-time or freelance workers
The union also called for Paramount to file annual certifications with the FCC demonstrating compliance, including a headcount of full-time employees and a description of any staffing changes with certification signed by a senior officer under penalty of perjury, the filing said.
Film studio Skydance told analysts last July it planned $2 billion in cuts at Paramount as it developed a creative-tech hybrid media company, one much more focused on artificial intelligence.
Shari Redstone’s Paramount is already in cost-cutting mode.
Paramount last month said it was going to reduce its workforce by 3.5% after a bigger round of layoffs in August which resulted in almost 15% layoffs, or about 2,000 of its 18,600 global workers.
The Teamsters and Suhr, for somewhat different reasons, want Paramount to preserve jobs at its CBS television stations that includes KCBS in Los Angeles and New York’s WCBS.
While the Teamsters want to keep union jobs, Suhr said station newscasts should remain locally run so they reflect the views of their communities especially on CBS owned stations in Dallas, Denver and Pittsburgh where the general population is more conservative than those found in Paramount’s Los Angeles or New York-based headquarters. The concern is an Ellison-run Skydance will streamline local newscasts which will then lose their local flavor, Suhr said.
“We’ve suggested treating the CBS owned stations more like bureaus,” Suhr said. “How great would it be to have the best local reporting.”
Suhr told JOBs that Ellison and Skydance have refused to meet with his organization or the Teamsters to speak about their concerns.
“They haven’t taken up our invitation,” Suhr said. “It’s their loss.”
“They would rather negotiate with Chairman Carr than me.”
This merger has an air of illegitimacy, perhaps making Carr more interested in showing that he is giving it a serious review, sources said.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) after the July 2 Trump settlement in the 60 Minutes case called for a Congressional inquiry believing it could be construed as bribery “in plain sight” since the suit was “meritless” and Paramount likely needed to please the President to get its merger at the independent FCC approved.
There is some recent precedence.
Chairman Carr on July 10 approved a T-Mobile agreement in which the telecom company said it would crack down on vendors that hire undocumented workers or independent contractors.
Paramount, Teamsters and FCC spokespeople declined comment.