EXCLUSIVE: There may be blood in the water for the latest installment of Syfy’s kitsch flick series. As the strike on Sharknado 3 by production and other crew goes into a second day, concerns are mounting that the TV pic won’t be finished in time for its July broadcast.“CGI takes time and Sharknado 3 will have to be pushed back by Syfy,” a production insider told me. “If this thing goes on for more than a week, there is no way all the effects will get done in time.”

Sources also tell me that producers The Asylum and IATSE have not had any significant talks since approximately 40 crew members walked off the job Monday in search of an IATSE contract on the project. The 2014 sequel to cultural and social media phenomenon Sharknado was made under union contracts but The Asylum did not sign one for Sharknado 3. With less than a week to go on filming here in LA, union officials ran out of patience with the producers and decided to take this week’s action as the project moved into the post phase. Picketing of the producers’ Burbank offices by IATSE members and crew continued today – as this tweet from the Editor’s Guild makes bitingly clear.

Neither Syfy nor The Asylum has commented directly on the labor action on the Anthony Ferrante directed project. However, the producers’ sometimes attorney Scott Meehan did issue a mocking statement on Monday seemingly on their behalf. “We are happy to report that we have reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Selachimorpha, which represents the sharks in our film,” Meehan said. “We will be increasing the amount of chum at the craft services table and will no longer require our employees to sleep without moving.” Union members declined to “dignify” statement “with a response.”