Alamo Drafthouse Slapped with Unfair Labor Practice Complaint Amid Layoffs
Amid layoffs at Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, a union representing New York City-based employees is hitting back at the theater chain accusing it of unfair labor practices.
UAW Local 2179, which encompasses Alamo United representing Drafthouse employees at both the Brooklyn and Manhattan locations, on Monday, February 3 filed a formal complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against Alamo Drafthouse and parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment, citing Refusal to Furnish Information and Refusal to Bargain/Bad Faith Bargaining.
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In a post on X, the union said 70 workers were laid off in Brooklyn and Manhattan and that the layoffs are “illegal” and an “unnecessary firing” of the staff. The union believes the firings have no financial purpose and were made in bad faith while the union was in the midst of negotiating its first contract. It formally unionized in October 2023.
Alamo Drafthouse had no comment. An insider told IndieWire that the cuts made to the NYC staff were part of the previously reported layoffs to both seasonal venue staff and the 9 percent of Alamo’s corporate staff (approximately 15 employees on the corporate level), but that the NYC layoffs were delayed while the company argued in good faith with the union. Employees who have been let go have been informed they can apply again closer to the summer box office rush.
Local 2179’s second VP Will Bobrowski told THR on Tuesday that while the union discussed staff cuts and the reduction of hours with Alamo, management abruptly declared an impasse in negotiations last Friday, despite there being numerous issues and contract terms remaining to discuss.
“This was the first time that we had a blatant flagrant stepping over the line beyond what the law allows. Labor law gives employers an awful lot of latitude,” Bobrowski told THR.
The union is planning picket lines at the theaters in both Brooklyn and Manhattan on Monday.
As IndieWire previously reported, though an insider said the cuts to venue staff were primarily to hourly and part-time employees, some on Reddit claimed that the cuts were more unusual than the typical churn that happens seasonally.
Alamo United back in January launched a petition calling for Drafthouse locations to ban screenings of Paramount’s “September 5,” which they called a film promoting “Zionist Propaganda” in its depiction of the hostages taken at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
Alamo United represents two of just three Alamo locations that are organized with a labor union, the other being in Colorado.
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