Staff at Picturehouse chain cancel 13-day strike after they were threatened with losing pay beyond hours of action

Cinema workers have called off strikes, saying they were threatened with losing more pay beyond the hours they were due to take action.



Staff at the Picturehouse chain in London were set to walk out from this weekend for 13 days from Saturday in Crouch End, Hackney, East Dulwich and the company’s flagship Picturehouse Central venue in Piccadilly, as well as the Ritzy in Brixton.

The workers are involved in a dispute over pay and union recognition that has been running for 16 months. They said they received a letter from the company citing a 2015 court decision relating to a strike by academic staff, which ruled that partial performance, or walking out for a few hours rather than a full shift, could mean the loss of an entire shift’s pay.

“The loss of up to 13 days of wages, and an expectation to work for free, is a deduction few low-paid Picturehouse workers would be able to afford,” the workers said.

Gruff Jones, who works at the Hackney Picturehouse, said: “We had chosen to undertake a symbolic strike rather than all-out disruptive one. The point was to remind those who employ us that we are essential to the running of the cinema.

“We didn’t intend to shut the cinema for the whole day. However, as a result of this move by management we have no choice but for all future strikes to last the entire day.”

Workers at five Picturehouse cinemas went ahead with a strike on Saturday and will take action on Sunday but a further 11 days of stoppages from Monday have been called off.

Picturehouse Cinemas, which is owned by Cineworld, the second largest cinema operator in Europe, said it had negotiated a pay increase with its staff, adding: “Within this agreement, front-of-house staff in London now receive £9.30 per hour, equivalent to £9.92 per hour as we’re one of the few cinema companies who choose to pay for breaks. This was agreed via a majority vote with recognised staff union the Forum.”

The London living wage was recently increased to £10.20 an hour, compared with the statutory rate of £7.50 for over 25 year-olds.

Cineworld reported a pre-tax profit of £98.2m for 2016 – slightly lower than the previous 12 months.

