Brixton Ritzy staff in pay dispute for London Living Wage with Picturehouse Cinemas

[Dexter Deadwood]

Stateside proof that the workers can win.

Last Monday, the mayor of Seattle signed into law a city-wide minimum wage of $15 (£8.90) an hour. It will be phased in over the next three to seven years, but nonetheless it remains a path-breaking commitment. More amazingly, Kshama Sawant, Seattle's first socialist councillor since 1916, had been elected last year with the $15 wage as her key pledge .
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/07/seattle-minimum-wage-fifteen-dollars-fight

 

[editor]

Eric Cantona is a blooming star!

 

[Gramsci]

Fozzie Bear brought up issue of boycott on the Free Entry to a film thread.

I messaged Ritzy on FB and they came back to say that their position has changed now that Cineworld/ Picturehouse have pulled out of talks and imposed a 4% pay rise.

Ritzy workers are now calling for a boycott of Picturehouse cinemas.

 

[Gramsci]

From Ritzy FB page:

Our next strike will be on Saturday 21st June 2014 all day. We're planning a full programme of activities and events so come and join us on Windrush Square.

Anyone who would like to help us put on activities or entertainment please do get in touch on here or by emailing ritzylivingwage@gmail.com with details.

They are now on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/RitzyLivingWage
Are you following us on Twitter yet? Please do and PLEASE tweet about us regularly to your followers!

 

[Gramsci]

Might have been posted before but here is sample email to send to owners of Picturehouse/ Cineworld. Its easy to do from that link.

 

[Gramsci]

Recent article from Brixton Buzz on Ritzy workers meeting with GLA members.

Fiona Twycross AM, London Assembly Labour Group Economy Spokesperson, said:

“The Mayor must do more to increase the take up of the voluntary London Living Wage, which is set at the higher rate of £8.80 an hour. At the current rate of take up by employers it will take 425 years for all Londoners to receive a decent days pay for work.’’

Twycross also added that despite Johnson positioning himself as a champion for employers paying their staff the LLW, the most recent London Poverty Profile found that 600,000 jobs in London were paid less than the LLW in 2012 (17% of all jobs), compared to 420,000 in 2007 (13%) prior to Boris Johnson’s election.

 

[Gramsci]

From Ritzy FB page a good article here

The Labour party recently conducted a survey of 2,200 people across London which discovered that two-thirds of low-income City workers feel they have witnessed their standard of living decline in the past three years.

Sounds about right to me from what Ive seen happening since the recession started.

 

[Gramsci]

A few pics from Saturdays strike. As usual the cinema was closed.

 

[editor]

They've voted to continue their strike. Up the workers!
http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/06/...ir-industrial-action-next-strike-on-6th-july/

Next action is on the 6th July.

 

[SpamMisery]

How longs it been going on now? Seems like a long time

 

[dbs1fan]

I've been told that a Living Wage for Ritzy staff banner has been spotted at Glasto

 

[Gramsci]

I've been told that a Living Wage for Ritzy staff banner has been spotted at Glasto

From Ritzy FB when Dolly was onstage.

 

[quimcunx]

Did I imagine it or has this spread throughout picturehouse venues?

 

[Gramsci]

Article in Observer today.

It began with small demonstrations outside the sort of London cinemas that serve a diet of arthouse titles and gourmet popcorn to a sophisticated urban audience. Now, following a series of strikes and public protests, the drive to raise low rates of pay for staff in arts venues has grown into a movement that threatens to alter the way they are run across the capital and beyond.

 

[editor]

From Ritzy FB when Dolly was onstage.

That's ace!

 

[editor]

Article in Observer today.

Nice reader comment:

There was a solidarity protest/picket & leafleting outside FACT in Liverpool (which houses a Picturehouse branch) this afternoon. A number of would-be cinema-goers, when informed about what was going on, didn't cross the picket line - while a few actually went into the building to inform staff why they would not be buying a cinema ticket that day.

I think it's brilliant what the Ritzy staff (and others) are doing. Oh, and there's a benefit coming up soon - I'll post up more later.

 

[gabi]

There's nothing ace about flags at festivals, whatever the cause.

 

[editor]

There's nothing ace about flags at festivals, whatever the cause.

Thanks for your opinion on the matter, which I shall duly ignore.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

What do we think of people posting events on here that are at The Ritzy?

I think we should support the boycott by not allowing them?

 

[gabi]

Thanks for your opinion on the matter, which I shall duly ignore.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

What do we think of people posting events on here that are at The Ritzy?

I think we should support the boycott by not allowing them?

For example this: http://www.urban75.net/forums/threa...a-fire-upstairs-at-the-ritzy-july-6th.325143/

 

[editor]

For example this: http://www.urban75.net/forums/threa...a-fire-upstairs-at-the-ritzy-july-6th.325143/

Although I'm fully supporting the boycott and will make efforts to promote it as much as I can, I don't think it's appropriate to start censoring what people can post in the Noticeboard forum.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Although I'm fully supporting the boycott and will make efforts to promote it as much as I can, I don't think it's appropriate to start censoring what people can post in the Noticeboard forum.

OK, but surely there are already criteria for what can and cannot be posted there?

I think it would be a fantastic message to be able to say that Urban 75 supports the boycott in that way.

 

[editor]

OK, but surely there are already criteria for what can and cannot be posted there?

I think it would be a fantastic message to be able to say that Urban 75 supports the boycott in that way.

Feels a bit like a slippery slope to me, to be honest. I've now written about 8 supportive articles on B Buzz about the strike and in every one added that we fully support the strike - and we have already done a night for them at Offline, with more to possibly come.

 

[Onket]

Supporting a well publicised boycott is not a slippery slope.

Allowing the promotion of events at that venue actually undermines the boycott and IS a slippery slope.

 

[gabi]

It does seem a tad hypocritical to publish articles urging people to boycott a venue while simultaneously having advertising up for their events

 

[editor]

It does seem a tad hypocritical to publish articles urging people to boycott a venue while simultaneously having advertising up for their events

Thanks for your opinion on the matter, but it would be even more hypocritical if I started censoring posts based on my own personal likes and dislikes. It's up to people whether they want to join in with the boycott or not.

Have you asked the staff whether they're also against the bands playing the venue?

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I think the staff have made it clear that they want the venue boycotted. I.e. they do not want people to attend the venue.

You can help with this by not allowing events at the venue to be publicised on your forum.

As the main moderator of a thriving online community with strong associations with Brixton, you can play a key role in this.

 

[editor]

As the main moderator of a thriving online community with strong associations with Brixton, you can play a key role in this.

For clarity: it's not "my" forum and I am not the "main moderator."

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Lyn Goleby, the managing director of Picturehouse: "However, we cannot predict the future levels of the London Living Wage and we cannot build a business plan around a rate that is not within our ability to forecast."

Absolute nonsense. The LLW isn't a made-up number, it's established and uprated updated using impeccable cost of living data which is broadly similar to RPI but more nuanced. And salary levels are one of the most variable elements of business planning because it only takes a couple of months spent understaffed or a slightly more expensive replacement in a key role to throw the numbers out of whack - therefore, it's one of the levers you're most likely to pull if revenue suffers, simply by delaying headcount replacement. The idea that long-term business planning could suffer because of a few percentage points variability in minimum staff costs is unsupportable.

Who advises this woman? She'd be much better off claiming that wages are kept as low as possible so that the business can support more staff than it technically should be able to employ, and to offer more opportunities in the exciting world of cinema to the thousands of young people who demand jobs with her so that they can benefit from admission to free films and discounted cakes.