Six days into their strike, the NYC Alamo United union, which incorporates staffers on the Alamo Drafthouse‘s decrease Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn places, is planning on bringing their protests straight to the theater chain’s new guardian firm, Sony Footage Leisure.
IndieWire has discovered that on Wednesday, February 19, Brooklyn and Manhattan strikers are planning to begin their day picketing exterior Sony’s Manhattan places of work, situated at 25 Madison Ave. Within the afternoon, the teams plan to separate up and head to their respective office places to proceed picketing on the firm’s decrease Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn places concurrently.
The NYC Alamo United group (which is a part of the United Auto Employees Native 2179, which represents staffers at these two NYC places) has been picketing exterior each the decrease Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn places since they referred to as the strike on February 14.
Official representatives from NYC Alamo United shared with IndieWire they’re “on strike to demand that Alamo and Sony come to the desk and cut price in good religion over our contract, the layoffs, workers shortages, and different results. Alamo should take into account the lives of their staff and deal with them with equity, dignity, and respect. The ball is of their courtroom.”
Alamo United represents two of simply three Alamo places which are organized with a labor union, the opposite being in Colorado. All three unionized Alamo Drafthouses — out of 42 theaters nationwide — are actually on strike and taking part in work stoppages, although the theaters stay operational.
The unionized Colorado location, in Sloans Lake, voted on February 5 and 6 to greenlight the potential work stoppage, and formally licensed their very own strike on February 11. The Hollywood Reporter studies that the Colorado union additionally walked out on February 14, simply hours earlier than the Manhattan and Brooklyn places joined them.
Moreover, on Monday, February 3, UAW Native 2179 filed a formal criticism with the Nationwide Labor Relations Board towards Alamo Drafthouse and guardian firm Sony Footage Leisure, citing Refusal to Furnish Info and Refusal to Cut price/Unhealthy Religion Bargaining.
In a publish on X, the union stated 70 staff have been laid off in Brooklyn and Manhattan and that the layoffs are “unlawful” and an “pointless firing” of the workers. The union believes the firings don’t have any monetary goal and have been made in unhealthy religion in midst of negotiating the union’s first contract. The workers formally unionized in October 2023.
An insider instructed IndieWire that the cuts made to the NYC workers have been a part of the beforehand reported layoffs to each seasonal venue workers and the 9 p.c of Alamo’s company workers (roughly 15 workers on the company stage), however that the NYC layoffs have been delayed whereas the corporate argued in good religion with the union. Staff who’ve been let go have been knowledgeable they’ll apply once more nearer to the summer season field workplace rush.
An insider near the corporate instructed IndieWire on Tuesday that every one layoff choices have been made by Alamo Drafthouse, not by guardian firm Sony Footage Leisure.
IndieWire has reached out to representatives for each Sony and Alamo Drafthouse for additional remark.