Workers at the Alamo Drafthouse locations in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn have ended their 58-day strike after reaching an agreement with management that will see all laid off workers at the two theaters reinstated.
“Strike won! All jobs are back!” the union announced in a social media post on Monday. “We will be returning to work officially on April 18 but feel free to start patronizing the Alamos in BK & Manhattan as soon as today.”
Workers at the two New York Alamo locations, who are organized with United Auto Workers Local 2179, went on strike in early February after approximately 70 staffers were laid off amidst ongoing labor contract talks. UAW accused the Sony-owned theater chain of not bargaining in good faith and violating labor law by not responding to requests for information.
The labor dispute in New York was not the only one Alamo was facing. In February, workers at the chain’s location in Sloans Lake, Colo., went on strike over layoffs amidst a deep box office slump.
Employees at the Sloans Lake location told TheWrap that the layoffs were a departure from previous company policy during slow business periods in which workers would have their hours reduced, sometimes to zero, but were not laid off and therefore still had the opportunity to receive hours from other employees. The strike only lasted four days, with the workers returning after the union received a promise that the theater would rehire three of the laid off workers.
An insider at Alamo Drafthouse says that the chain had planned to reach out to laid out workers at all of its nationwide locations to reapply for their positions once business picked back up, which it has in the past two weekends with the box office surge of “A Minecraft Movie.” All workers rehired within 90 days would have their seniority and PTO reinstated.
