The Teamsters are throwing a fit over…Mr. Beast?
Yes, that’s right. Last week, IATSE unionized crew members of Prime Video series Beast Games, a show hosted by YouTube star “Mr. Beast.” This has caused a dust-up with the Teamsters, who seem a little miffed about having to share the production with another union.
A trade publication reports that the “Teamsters side of Local 391 and Hollywood’s Lindsay Dougherty-run Local 399 balked at the perceived move into their territory.” This TV series was recently renewed for a third season, and the Teamsters apparently felt that their groundwork on the set entitled them “to solidify the production as a union one.”
Now, the Teamsters are threatening to strike over rapidly devolving contract negotiations. Yep, somebody is pouting.
Sean O’Brien finally commented on the DOL’s tabloid saga:
If you’ve been wondering if there’s an update on those accusations against ex-Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, you will likely be in luck soon. DOL Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito revealed that his office is done with the internal investigation into Chavez-DeRemer’s alleged travel fraud and more. The report should be in Congress’ hands sometime in June.
Recently, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien was asked by NBC for his reaction to the resignation. He pointed out, “Her father’s a retired Teamster, [and] she checked all the boxes professionally on what we wanted to see from a labor secretary.”
He was clearly a little sore on this subject: “I was getting criticized because ‘this is Sean O’Brien’s labor secretary,’ blah blah blah blah blah.”
And then? “Well, it is what it is. She made a mistake, she’s gonna have to live with that mistake, and we just have to move on.”
Acting Secretary Keith Sonderling has more than hit the ground running, so it’s fair to say that the DOL has already moved on.
The Machinists learned that “buzz” doesn’t win union elections:
The Pharmacy Guild-IAM lost what would have been its biggest organizing prize yet–212 pharmacy techs across five bargaining units at the University of Kansas Health System. The tally is under wraps with Kansas’s Public Employee Relations Board, but the margin was reportedly “razor-thin.”
Co-founders Shane Jerominski and Maurice Shaw have branded themselves “Pharmacy Bad Boys For Life” for stand-up comedy sets, in which they drag pharmacy chains and the customers who frequent them. Jerominski announced the University of Kansas campaign last October via his Accidental Pharmacist page, which has 182,000+ followers.
Despite how these social media stars generate buzz for their union, their influence has limits. That is, Facebook and Instagram “likes” can’t vote in a union election.
The Pharmacy Guild filed an appeal on May 19, while claiming that “so many” ballots went missing in this mail-in election. We’ll be watching.
UAW chief Shawn Fain’s “reformer” label is still crumbling:
Big Labor’s eyes are on the upcoming UAW international officer elections scheduled for this fall. It’s not easy to boot a union president, but the mounting criticism against union chief Shawn Fain is still worthy of popcorn.
As we’ve covered extensively, Fain’s culture of fear and retaliation is the subject of 13 unflattering reports from federal monitor Neil Barofsky. At least four challengers are waiting in the wings while criticizing how Fain has not delivered upon promises of reform.
We previously discussed how Fain plotted to oust Mock after she refused to approve questionable financial expenditures, and Barofsky ordered her reinstatement. This week, a progressive publication published quotes from Fain during that internal battle. He reportedly groused, “Every time we make a request, we’re being investigated like we’re doing something corrupt.”
Mock responded, “I was sent here with a mandate. The membership said, go in there and you protect our money at all costs. Am I counting dollars and pennies and nickels and dimes? Absolutely. That’s my job.”
Rumor has it that Mock is considering a presidential run, too. Oh boy.
What AI model do professionals prefer? It’s not even close:
We’re wishing you a safe holiday weekend, but first, we checked in on LinkedIn Labs’ real-time ranking of AI platforms voted on by their users. Unsurprisingly, the leaderboard is very Claude-heavy.
The current top five:
1. Claude Opus 4.6 from Anthropic
2. Claude Sonnet 4.6 from Anthropic
3. Claude Opus 4.7 from Anthropic
4. GLM 5 from Z.ai
5. GPT-5.5 from OpenAI
Perhaps Claude has earned a day of celebration to hallucinate without repercussions, but then it’s back to work after Memorial Day weekend.
