All workers in playgrounds and places of amusement and recreation. All professional entertainers.
Submitted by x344543 on Fri, 06/16/2006 - 12:47pm
By Judith Scher, Berkeley Daily Planet - June 16, 2006.
Standing on the bed of a blue pick-up truck, draped with a red Industrial Workers of the World banner and energized by guitar and fiddle music, Shattuck Cinemas workers and their supporters addressed working conditions at the theater Wednesday.
The rally outside the downtown theater on Shattuck Avenue near Kittredge Street was a prelude to the National Labor Relations Board-sponsored union election scheduled at the theater today (Friday).
“They need to treat us with respect,” Ryan Hatt told the crowd that grew to around 50 listeners. “There are no benefits, unless you count free movies and popcorn. People working [at the Shattuck] for over six years get $8.05 cents an hour. What we’re fighting for is a voice.”
Submitted by x344543 on Wed, 05/31/2006 - 12:55pm
By Judith Scherr - Berkeley Daily Planet, May 30, 2006
Workers at the downtown Shattuck Cinemas, owned by Landmark Theaters, who earn just above minimum wage with no health benefits, will have their say about whether they form a union.
The National Labor Relations Board has scheduled a vote for June 16, according to Harjit Singh Gill, organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World.
Twenty-two of the 28 workers petitioned the NLRB for the election.
Winning the vote “means the workers will be able to sit down at the negotiating table and make demands," Gill said, noting that the right to form a union is just the beginning and that negotiating a contract will be the hard part.
The only other unionized Landmarks Theater is Kendell Square, in Cambridge, Mass. The workers there have been in negotiations since July, Gill said.
In addition to fair wages, Gill said the workers want a contract with a grievance procedure, which they do not have now. Landmarks Theaters did not return requests for comment.
Submitted by x344543 on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 2:44pm
The National Labor Relations Board has given The Shattuck an election date! On June 16th, between 4:30 and 6:30pm on location at the theatre, the workers will have the opportuinty to make their voices heard and vote for the union.
This could not have all come together without the commitment of the workers and the Industrial Workers of the World. We will be holding actions regularly between now and the election date, and look forward to having the opportuinty to start the process of gaining workplace democracy.
Please email the Landmark chain and express your support for the union, we have not won yet, but with the combination of community, union, and worker solidarity, we will! Stay Tuned for our weekly updates.
Submitted by x344543 on Sat, 05/13/2006 - 3:15am
By Dean Dempsey, special to iww.org - May 12, 2006
Landmark Shattuck Cinema workers are fed up. Years of bad hours, poor pay, a hostile work environment and the demoralizing treatment from theater management has led the Cinema workers of Berkeley, CA, to push for a union; for the One Big Union of the Industrial Workers of the World.
At 4pm on May 12, 2006, approximately 80 Wobblies and supporters gathered in what some hailed as one of the largest IWW gatherings in recent Bay Area history, next to the May Day contingent earlier this month. Theater workers, union organizers and locals from the community attended the rally to demonstrate their solidarity for the union effort, carrying signs that read “An injury to one is an injury to all”, and “Union Now”. A drum team kept the crowd enthused, as they sang union songs and recited pro-worker chants to the public. Some Cinema employees were still on the clock, but were very much committed to participate in the rally while on their breaks, wearing their IWW pins and showing support for the union. Shattuck Cinema organizer, Harjit Gill, says “I think what we see here today is a great success. There has been the participation of IWW members from the past and the present, and those who haven’t been recently active. Ultimately, we’re very excited about this campaign.”
Submitted by x344543 on Tue, 05/09/2006 - 5:43pm
By Judith Scherr - Berkeley Daily Planet, Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Aurelia River has worked six years at the Shattuck Cinema in downtown Berkeley, with a 50-cent increase in salary during that time, going from $6.75 to $7.25 an hour for almost full-time work. She earns no benefits.
Demanding decent wages and working conditions, River and 22 of her 28 co-workers filled out cards Monday morning, beginning the process of petitioning the National Labor Relations Board for a union.
The Shattuck Cinema is owned by Landmark Theatres, which did not return Daily Planet calls.
“We’re really asking for dignity and respect, the respect that comes with fair treatment,” said Harjit Singh Gill, branch organizer with the Industrial Workers of the World. Among the demands are fair wages and a grievance procedure, Gill said.
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