Teamsters Local 399 Requests Voluntary Recognition of 3 Hudson Pacific Companies: Quixote, Zio Studio Services and Star Waggons

Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399 is asking Hudson Pacific Properties to voluntarily recognize it as a bargaining agent for nearly 120 employees of Quixote, Zio Studio Services and Star Waggons.

Hudson Pacific Properties is a West Coast real estate company that recently expanded into the film industry. In 2021, the company acquired Zio Studio Services and Star Waggons, where employees provide transportation and logistics services for studio productions. Earlier this year, Hudson Pacific also acquired Quixote Studios, which provides studio space, vehicles and equipment for film and television productions.

According to Local 399, these recent acquisitions and changes in business practices “motivated employees at all three companies to seek union representation through Local 399.”

“First and foremost, we are proud of these employees and their determination,” said Lindsay Dougherty, Chief Executive Officer of Local 399 and director of the Teamsters Motion Picture and Theatrical Trade Division. “Each unit was critical to the growth and success of these businesses. The employees who tirelessly put their time and talent to work deserve the assurance that they will be protected and be part of the next phase of growth. Only a collective agreement can regulate this. We are grateful for their trust in this process.”

This is the first group of Star Waggons workers to organize in Local 399, but the union already has two contracts with Quixote for workers in the production vehicle division and the traction and lighting division. The new union recognition requirement applies to cleaners and workers who make trailers at Quixote’s Penrose site in Sun Valley.

“We expected positive changes with the arrival of Hudson Pacific,” said Diego Castillo, a seven-year employee who works as a materials coordinator at Star Waggons. “We had high hopes for the new direction of Star Waggons. But then we realized that we were getting less and we were expected to produce more. I think unions are long overdue. We were done waiting to be saved. We realized that we had to do it for ourselves and our families.

Local 399 also has an ongoing contract with Zio, although the existing agreement does not cover employees who do cleaning, washing, repair and general fleet maintenance, who are now seeking union representation.

“We hope that these employees will voluntarily be recognized and work with these three companies,” said Dougherty. “We are asking Hudson Pacific Properties to join us in a partnership that will be beneficial to both employees and their respective employers.”

Local 399 says it has reached out to Jake Stotland, executive vice president of Hudson Pacific’s Global Studios, “to bring each company’s request for voluntary recognition to its attention and to ask for the company’s assistance in the process.” The union notes that while the three companies are now owned by Hudson Pacific, they will continue to operate independently.

Local 399 represents nearly 6,400 members of the film industry in Hollywood and New Mexico, including drivers, animal handlers/trainers, wrestlers, dispatchers, DOT drivers, location professionals, actors, executive assistants, mechanics, car service and warehouse workers .