At our July 24 General Membership Meeting, we were honored to welcome esteemed Teamsters Local 399 Secretary-Treasurer and IBT Western Region Vice President Lindsay Dougherty to our union hall.
A proud second-generation Teamster and Detroit native, Lindsay began her career in the film industry more than 20 years ago, and for the last 10 years, Dougherty has fought on behalf of the rank-and-file members of Teamsters Local 399 as a business agent, lead organizer, Recording Secretary, and since 2022 as Secretary-Treasurer. She has negotiated contracts in TV, film and new media, taking on some of the world’s largest corporations in the entertainment industry. She has organized many new workers, building the membership of Local 399 and winning strong wages and benefits for thousands of members in the Teamsters Motion Picture Division. Since 2022, she has also served as IBT Western Region Vice President and appointed Director of the Teamsters Motion Picture Division.
Lindsay delivered an empowered speech addressing the current labor strikes in the entertainment industry and other sectors. With WGA and SAG-AFTRA currently on strike due to breakdowns in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Lindsay provided background about how the AMPTP formed, and how union solidarity will help all of us achieve our respective, and collective, goals. “These companies don’t care about any of us, they care about profits… We need strategy, solidarity and a multi-union alliance,” she said, remarking on our industry’s current struggles in the face of new technology, inequality, and the aftermath of Covid. “Now, enough is enough. We’re back to the 1940s where companies are monopolizing, and that’s what we’re seeing in Hollywood. But together we can overcome. It’s going to take all of us together to do this. L.A. is a union town, and we have to be sure we mean it when say it.”
She highlighted the importance of solidarity in building our greater movement, and pledged that Teamsters will do whatever they can to help musicians.
