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

[friendofdorothy]

There's been a pretty substantial breakthrough: http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/08/...use-produce-breakthrough-on-the-ritzy-strike/

about bloody time!

 

[Effrasurfer]

about bloody time!

Woohoo! Does that mean we can stop boycotting the Ritzy?

 

[editor]

Woohoo! Does that mean we can stop boycotting the Ritzy?

Not quite yet, but the union is recommending that the workers go with the deal.

 

[Gramsci]

Woohoo! Does that mean we can stop boycotting the Ritzy?

The Bectu statement ( see link on Brixton Buzz article) says boycott can stop.

Efforts to promote a boycott of Picturehouse venues across the UK will now be suspended,

 

[editor]

The Bectu statement ( see link on Brixton Buzz article) says boycott can stop.

Ah, OK. I still probably won't go though till the deal is signed.

 

[Gramsci]

Ah, OK. I still probably won't go though till the deal is signed.

I read the Bectu statement as saying that its only suspended pending a vote by Ritzy staff agreeing to deal.

 

[Gramsci]

There was an early offer of a rise over a period - do you remember what it was? I seem to recall linkage was the key argument for BECTU.

It was:

We offered a package that would have increased wages by 21.5% over 20 months but this has been turned down.

I agree that linkage to LLW was the key issue for BECTU.

Reading the BECTU statement again I do not see that Picturehouse have agreed to be a Living Wage employer. The words used are:

Picturehouse acknowledged that the offer fell short of the union's aims, but promised to cooperate with the union on "a journey of delivery towards higher pay".

Also:

BECTU general secretary Gerry Morrissey, who led the ACAS union team, said: "This is a very welcome move by the company, and although it's not completely what we wanted, we are two thirds of the way there. The last third will depend on Picturehouse recognising the contribution made by staff, and their determined commitment to win the London Living Wage in 2016".

 

[Gramsci]

I am trying to understand the deal. Can anyone explain what the supplement means:

Talks at ACAS, which ran until 3am on 31 July, produced a new offer from Picturehouse which fell short of immediately conceding the London Living Wage of £8.80 per hour, but laid out a calendar to pay this rate to all staff on main grades by September 2015.

Central to the new offer is a supplement of 80p per hour which will be paid on time worked, holiday entitlement, sickness absence, and will count towards pension contributions.

Including this supplement, staff are being offered an immediate pay increase from £7.35 per hour to £8.00, back-dated to October 2013, and supervisors will retain their differential of 50p per hour. On 5 September this will rise to £8.20 per hour, followed by a further increase to £8.40 per hour on 2 January 2015. The final rise to £8.80 will take place on 4 September 2015.

The deal is backdated which is a good result for the Ritzy workers.

 

[editor]

Reading the BECTU statement again I do not see that Picturehouse have agreed to be a Living Wage employer.

No, they haven't. But they are 'on a journey' which involves them paying their staff more with the ultimate union destination being that of Picturehouse matching the London living wage.

There's no guarantee that the workers will reach that destination mind, but they will be still be a fair bit better off with the option to call more action if they feel that they aren't progressing along that route at a reasonable rate.

 

[Gramsci]

No, they haven't. But they are 'on a journey' which involves them paying their staff more with the ultimate union destination being that of Picturehouse matching the London living wage.

There's no guarantee that the workers will reach that destination mind, but they will be still be a fair bit better off with the option to call more action if they feel that they aren't progressing along that route.

Thats how I read it as well. BECTU have also got agreement to further talks as part of the deal. The backdating of this deal and agreement by Picturehouse to further talks at a later date are a good result. My view is that the fiasco of the Monty Python screening made Picturehouse mge think again.

To take account of the likely increase in the LLW, probably in November 2014, negotiators built in further set of pay talks in June 2016 aimed at a two-year settlement with a guaranteed minimum rise to £9.10 an hour.

Not sure if the date of 2016 is right. Surely should be 2015?

 

[editor]

Right on cue: Brixton Ritzy workers release statement regarding recent talks with Picturehouse

 

[Winot]

The Bectu statement ( see link on Brixton Buzz article) says boycott can stop.

Excellent - I want to see Boyhood (obv. the breakthrough is more important than the inconvenience to me, but still).

 

[editor]

Ooh! Big news coming in! Just waiting for the official statement.

 

[leanderman]

Ooh! Big news coming in! Just waiting for the official statement.

Brixton Blog reporting that staff voted against the pay offer.

https://m.facebook.com/RitzyLivingWage

 

[ska invita]

Brixton Blog reporting that staff voted against the pay offer.

https://m.facebook.com/RitzyLivingWage

Yesterday the ballot to determine whether BECTU members at The Ritzy would accept or reject the offer that was achieved by our negotiating team at ACAS last month closed.
BECTU members at The Ritzy have voted by a slim majority to reject the offer.
We would like to make clear that this should not be interpreted as a sign that we are in any sense divided. Nor does it indicate that a large minority of our members viewed this as a good deal that is worth accepting.
Over the last four weeks we have discussed the offer and all the implications of accepting or rejecting it in full at two full BECTU members' meetings and during lengthy discussion via email and face to face amongst ourselves.

The clear message from these discussions was that our members viewed the offer with considerable disappointment and felt that it fell too far short of the London Living Wage and those who expressed the intention to accept the offer did so purely for practical reasons. Many had doubts even after they had voted to accept the offer that they might have done the wrong thing.
The other clear message that came from the discussions was that we remained united and determined to stick together as a collective and respect the democratic will of the majority, whatever that might be. We stand absolutely by that collective spirit that has already achieved so much during this campaign. Unity is Strength!

The London Living Wage is the absolute minimum a person needs to have a basic, decent standard of living in this city. In being unwilling to accept an unreasonable compromise that would keep them too far below this level for too long our members have acted entirely reasonably.

We now urge Picturehouse management to address the concerns of our members and come back to the negotiating table with an offer that our members might be able to accept. Failing that, our campaign and industrial action will resume imminently.
In the weeks ahead we will need the backing of our incredible supporters, the local community and other trade unionists more than ever before. Updates will follow on Facebook and Twitter.

it sounds from that like the offer was below the LLW, anyone know what was offered?

 

[Rushy]

it sounds from that like the offer was below the LLW, anyone know what was offered?

Talks at ACAS, which ran until 3am on 31 July, produced a new offer from Picturehouse which fell short of immediately conceding the London Living Wage of £8.80 per hour, but laid out a calendar to pay this rate to all staff on main grades by September 2015.

Central to the new offer is a supplement of 80p per hour which will be paid on time worked, holiday entitlement, sickness absence, and will count towards pension contributions.

Including this supplement, staff are being offered an immediate pay increase from £7.35 per hour to £8.00, back-dated to October 2013, and supervisors will retain their differential of 50p per hour. On 5 September this will rise to £8.20 per hour, followed by a further increase to £8.40 per hour on 2 January 2015. The final rise to £8.80 will take place on 4 September 2015.

To take account of the likely increase in the LLW, probably in November 2014, negotiators built in further set of pay talks in June 2016 aimed at a two-year settlement with a guaranteed minimum rise to £9.10 an hour. Picturehouse acknowledged that the offer fell short of the union's aims, but promised to cooperate with the union on "a journey of delivery towards higher pay".

 

[editor]

Brixton Blog reporting that staff voted against the pay offer.

That's the news I was sitting on for the past two days! I've added their full statement to the B Buzz report.
http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/08/...ettlement-offer-strike-action-set-to-restart/

AFAIK, there was also 'press' clauses in the deal which were proving a real sticking point. I'l say more about that when I can.

 

[editor]

Oh, and well done Ritzy workers! This is a brilliant stand they're making and I wish them every success.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Good. They should stick to getting LLW and not back down. Is the boycott back on?

 

[editor]

Good. They should stick to getting LLW and not back down. Is the boycott back on?

I'll ask. I haven't been there at all while this dispute has remained unresolved.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

I went to Catch a Fire a couple of weeks back....that's been it...

 

[Gramsci]

I did start going back to Ritzy. As I miss it.

The staff were rather quiet on the issue of the deal. I got the impression there was a lot of discussion going on.

The issue is how much support they will know get from BECTU leadership now they have turned down a deal that was recommended by Union.

I hope they do get support from union. As its vital.

 

[Gramsci]

That's the news I was sitting on for the past two days! I've added their full statement to the B Buzz report.
http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/08/...ettlement-offer-strike-action-set-to-restart/

AFAIK, there was also 'press' clauses in the deal which were proving a real sticking point. I'l say more about that when I can.

I take it you mean gagging clause? They are becoming all to common in disputes. Did hear a radio programme about them in relation to Universities. One commentator said that inappropriate use of gagging clauses damaged an open democratic society and should not be allowed.

As for the dispute. It was about the Living Wage:

The London Living Wage is the absolute minimum a person needs to have a basic, decent standard of living in this city.

The proposed deal did not offer a route to LLW. Just more talks at a later date. So there is a logic in voting against the deal. The proposed deal did not get them any nearer to LLW.

Whatever the job is the LLW should be the minimum. Arguments about what job is more pleasant etc etc are beside the point.

 

[leanderman]

Am I allowed to go there tomorrow night?

 

[T & P]

Judging by the image I've just seen on Sky News' newspaper preview, The Observer will feature a Ritzy worker on its front page this Sunday

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Observer front page:

http://ow.ly/i/6J1Nh

 

[Gramsci]

Judging by the image I've just seen on Sky News' newspaper preview, The Observer will feature a Ritzy worker on its front page this Sunday

My neighbour told me about this. She teaches English on a zero hour contract. Here is the article. At last an article saying how it is for a lot of people.

Chief steward for Bectu at the Ritzy is Nia Hughes, 32, a photography graduate, who has worked at the cinema part-time for five years. "The company said people just walk through the job, why should we pay more? We told them some stay 10 years. They have a right to dignity and respect at work."

Dignity and respect at work is what has gone.

Typical thing employers say. The others are " its an easy job", " you should not rely on this job", "if I paid more the company would lose work to another company and then you would be sorry", "You are lucky to have a job. What are you complaining about?" , "If you do not like it here try that other company its worse there."

Its common for employers to regard the job as a "fill in job" before one gets " a real job". Even though same employers need a core of staff who are experienced. And when they look for staff they want people who have experience. God forbid that they have to actually go to the bother of training people. What a burden.

In a paper published last month, academics Dr Lydia Hayes and Professor Tonia Novitz considered how the cake could be sliced more fairly. They say economic inequality was at its lowest when 58% of workers were in trade unions and 82% of wages were set by collective bargaining. By 2012, 26% of the workforce was in trade unions and only 23% covered by collective bargaining, while the gap between top earners and the lowest is higher than at any time since records began.

 

[Gramsci]

And this from the excellent Observer article:

The lack of money in the pockets of the many – who spend proportionately more than the wealthy – has led many experts to cite it as a fundamental crisis in capitalism. In the US, economists such as Paul Krugman and Robert Reich support the analysis of Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the 21st Century, which states that squeezing the majority while allowing the richest to accrue unprecedented levels of wealth does not create "a rising tide that lifts all boats". On the contrary, unrestrained capitalism that ignores the rules of fair play in employment destroys its own customer. In his documentary Inequality for All, Reich points out that 70% of the US economy is dependent on consumer spending. The problem is that more and more people have less and less money to spend.

Also as I pointed out elsewhere Osborne has not "rebalanced" the economy but has propped up the housing market. ie the "rentier" class.

I disagree that capitalism ignores the rules of fair play. Capitalism is not about fair play in employment. That is how it works. What has been seen over last thirty years is capitalism, unrestrained by Unions or the State, reverting to its natural mode.

I was talking to a Marxist I know ( who has read all of it and understands it) that Piketty did not say much in favour of Marx. He reckoned in fact that Piketty was heavily influenced by some of Marx economic writings but did not want publicly to be seen as a far leftist.

 

[editor]

Observer front page:

http://ow.ly/i/6J1Nh

I was at a party with her last night

 

[Gramsci]

Am I allowed to go there tomorrow night?

I will ask them next time I bump into one of them what the position now is on boycott.

I know before they did not want people to boycott the cinema except when they were on strike.