UPDATE, 11:55 AM: It didn’t take long for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees to respond to dismissive and disparaging remarks from Sharknado 3 producer The Asylum earlier today. “This new collection of lies is nothing more than an anti-union screed,” the union bluntly said Friday in a statement about the more than weeklong labor action (read the full IATSE statement below). With this war of words as well as picket lines and replacement workers in the mix, it’s going to be a very long walk back from where both sides are now. Here’s the full statement from Vanessa Holtgrewe, Assistant Director of the IATSE Motion Picture Department:

Once again, The Asylum distinguishes themselves as not only misrepresenting the truth but outright lying about the facts. The IATSE stands with the original crew of Sharknado 3 who voted overwhelmingly for union representation. Many of the crew were on the picket lines in Los Angeles day after day, and their Facebook page, Strikenado, is filled with their testimonies, as well as those who have had the displeasure of working for The Asylum before. Like The Asylum’s original statement which mocked this hardworking crew, this new collection of lies is nothing more than an anti-union screed.

PREVIOUS, 11:22 AM: Over a week into a strike on the Syfy sequel, producers The Asylum have sunk their teeth into IATSE over the labor action – and it looks like they intend to draw blood. “To accuse me, my partners, or my company of somehow being anti-union is insulting and untrue,” said Asylum COO and Sharknado 3 producer Paul Bales in a long and detailed statement today (see the whole statement below). Seemingly disinterested in reaching a deal with the strikers, Bales says that the bad experience the company had dealing with IATSE’s NYC local on 2014’s Sharknado 2 is what made them decide to go non-union with this sequel, which is set to air on Syfy this summer. “The IATSE’s actions on this film have confirmed that we made the right decision,” he adds.

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Citing his own union background, Bales on Friday also claimed that the union is guilty of “cyberbullying, threats…verbal and physical intimidation, staged pedestrian accidents, and mysteriously flattened tires” against those who replaced the crew who walked off the job on March 3. Seeking a union contract, IATSE has picketed Asylum’s Burbank offices as well as Sharknado 3 shoots in L.A. and D.C.

This is the first significant statement from the Sharknado 3 producers since the labor action started. I have a feeling IATSE will have something to say in response. In the meantime, read Bales’ comments here: