Another Alamo Drafthouse theater is poised to go union.
On Friday, a majority of eligible workers on the Sony-owned theater chain’s Slaughter Lane location in Austin, Texas voted to affiliate with the United Auto Workers in a National Labor Relations Board election, in accordance with union organizers. Workers voted 52-16 to hitch the UAW, with 94 % of these eligible collaborating within the election. The outcomes are nonetheless pending certification from the NLRB, which might make the union official.
“This is the result of four months of hard work and outreach by organizers,” the group of organizers, which calls itself SlaughterHome United, acknowledged on Friday. “We look forward to the result being officially certified by the NLRB post-haste and to begin bargaining with Alamo in good faith to secure a fair contract for our workplace.”
In an announcement, an Alamo Drafthouse spokesperson mentioned, “We respect Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane theater’s right to organize, and we are committed to bargaining in good faith.”
According to organizers, 73 hourly workers, resembling concierge workers, line cooks, bartenders, visitor attendants and hourly supervisors, will likely be included within the union.
The group went public with its unionization efforts in March after company-wide layoffs impacted the Austin location. Organizers referred to as the job cuts the “last straw” amid alleged “stagnant” wages and a scarcity of “meaningful improvements to the day-to-day workplace.”
The Slaughter Lane location wasn’t the one theater to take motion over broad job cuts on the chain. Unionized New York and Colorado areas went on two separate strikes in February in response to the terminations, with the Colorado work stoppage lasting only some days, whereas Alamo’s downtown Brooklyn and decrease Manhattan areas picketed for 58 days.
If the outcomes are licensed, the Slaughter Lane union and administration will subsequent work in direction of negotiating their first labor contract.
In their assertion on Friday, the organizers referred to as on all Alamo Drafthouse theaters to unionize to “take advantage of Alamo’s shifting strategy on labor.” The group claimed that “it is apparent to us that CEO Michael Kusterman and VP of Operations Kelley Bondelie are moving the company closer to a position of labor neutrality.”
On Saturday, one other Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse, the flagship South Lamar location, a few of whose workers have been attempting to unionize for years, appeared to reply the decision for extra labor exercise. Employees staged a one-day “sickout” and requested patrons to swap their tickets for a unique day or ask for refunds.
