Yesterday, the 100 workers of Nitehawk Cinema, which as I understand is a recent local staple of New York City's Prospect Park, went public with their union! They'll be unionizing with United Auto Workers Local 2179 and—because Nitehawk Cinema is refusing to voluntarily recognize them—they'll be going forward with a union election in short order. They've also been aided in their unionization by the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (and from my personal observations, NYC-DSA).
According to Jacobin, pay and benefits at the cinema are... inadequate to say the least. They report that starting pay for servers is the state minimum ($10.65 before tips), and further that "only full-time workers are eligible for health insurance." They add through interviews with workers at the cinema that multiple employees have been forced to choose between rent and tending to their own health. The union itself says:
We have faced countless issues concerning unsafe working conditions, unfair treatment and inequitable wages, exacerbated by the whirlwind phenomena of Barbenheimer.
We are dangerously overworked and the amount of effort each employee contributes to this job is not reflected in our compensation, nor the way we are treated.
These problems are not new, though it has become clear that coming together as a workforce is the only way our concerns will be heard and taken seriously.
Some examples of these "unsafe working conditions" are quite serious. Workers say that the building has exhibited safety issues such as falling debris particles from the roof; a lack of reliable air condition which leads to building temperatures in the eighties Fahrenheit; and “floor sweat,” which occurs because of the building's construction. In certain conditions, they say to Jacobin, the building "retains moisture and in certain weather [the floor] becomes extraordinarily slippery, posing a danger to workers and customers alike."
Jacobin notes in their piece that a proto-union of sorts was attempted here during the first height of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021); that effort, consisting of a letter demanding better working conditions and addressing some of these conditions, ended in two workers being fired. This unionization effort is occurring in the shadow of that and organizers say it's definitely had an influence on some of the current workplace and their willingness to unionize.
Still, the union believes it has about 70% support at minimum and is optimistic about any union election. A date for one is forthcoming.
