Alamo Drafthouse workers strike after layoffs at Denver movie theater
Employees of two Alamo Drafthouse theaters in New York voted to join the walkout.
Unionized workers at Alamo Drafthouseâs Sloanâs Lake location went on strike Friday, blaming a round of surprise layoffs impacting movie theaters in the Denver area and across the country.
Josh Reitze â a theater employee and steward for Communication Workers of America Local 7777, which represents workers â said the companyâs decision to cut 11 jobs at the Denver theater earlier this month violated labor law and turned persistent understaffing into a crisis.
âEveryoneâs feeling the pressure,â Reitze said. âThis came out of nowhere, and it really hurt the bargaining process. It deeply disappointed the staff, as well. Weâre friends, and roommates, and weâre all affected by this.â
Phone calls to the theater went unanswered and its website indicated no available showtimes Saturday. The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on the strike.
Reitze said the chain hasnât explained why the layoffs were financially necessary, and the suddenness of the decision undermined trust between Local 7777 and the company. A statement sponsored by CWA also said Alamo Drafthouse refused to consider reducing employeesâ hours as an alternative to layoffs.
Employees of two Alamo Drafthouse theaters in New York voted to join Sloanâs Lake workers in their walkout Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter, meaning all three unionized theaters out of the companyâs 42 U.S. locations are currently on strike.
Alamo Drafthouse also operates theaters in Littleton and Westminster, which Reitze said have experienced layoffs and whose workers are also in the process of unionizing but are not currently participating in the strike.
Editorâs note: Union members in The Denver Post newsroom belong to a separate unit of the Communication Workers of America.
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