Landmark Theaters Employee Union

I have a few:

Pay your employees a living wage.

Stop cutting your employee’s already meager hours without notice or cause.

Stop fighting unions and start fighting the problems that are causing employees to unionize.

Stop turning theaters that used to be classy into glorified DVD and T-Shirt shops (which is failing miserably by the way).

Stop alienating formerly loyal customers by raising concessions prices into the stratosphere.

Stop alienating formerly loyal customers by showing less and less quality film.

Stop alienating formerly loyal customers by showing tacky commercials before the movies.

Stop alienating formerly loyal customers by forcing their favorite long time employees out of their jobs.

Stop continuously treating your employees with contempt (your condescending post above being a perfect example) .

Stop hiring upper management that knows nothing about film and doesn’t care to know.

People in Landmark’s Human Resources Department are patronizing, dismissive, unreasonable and totally ineffectual. Do something about that.

And charging people to show their films? Are you fucking kidding me? Does the word ‘payola’ right a bell? Do you know why it’s illegal? More importantly, do you know why it’s considered unethical?

‘Unethical’ : Look it up in the dictionary - I have a sneaking suspicion that you don’t know what it means.

After your changes what exactly separates Landmark Theaters from other theater chains? Now that everything that made Landmark Theaters special is gone how do you expect to compete?

Also, why weren’t you quite this anxious to address anyone’s concerns before your employees started organizing?

BONUS SUGGESTION: The new paper tickets are terrible. They are cumbersome, inefficient, annoying and ugly. Go back to the tickets from two upgrades ago - they were fast and perfect.

P.S. I will vote for any film made by people who have enough principal to refuse to pay you. ‘Principal’ - that’s another word you should look up.

Not "right".

The Uptown Theater is falling apart - fix it..Please. It's breaking our hearts.

Hey Mark, good to hear from you! 

Since you’re here, and since you just accused me of just bitching and not working towards change (on a site created for that very reason), would you care to use this forum to address the unionization of the Kendall Square Cinema as well as the union drive last year by three Landmark theaters in Minneapolis? 

Why was hiring a union busting firm your way of responding to employees “who take the initiative to create change”? 

If you value your employees' opinion enough to ask for their vote on your new project, why not value their opinions about their workplace?  

I cant claim to be pro union at all. IMHO, unions, particularly in specific theater locations are in response to other issues.

they may be an individual responding to problems the location has.
It may be an individual who is trying to push forward unions in this and other locations.

I prefer dealing with the issues at hand. Whether its Kendall, or any location, having a union changes the agenda. It no longer becomes just a Kendall issue. It becomes a matter of fitting the union agenda as well.

I view it the same as politics. I dont look at things from a republican or democratic perspective. I try to never group think. Issues need to be deal with directly. Trying to find the best solution, not the solution that also works with party politics.

This site is a perfect example of that problem. Its not purely devoted to kendall issues, it also has labor and union news. Much of which has nothing to do with Kendall, but everything to do with pushing union perspective and agenda.

thats just my opinion.

Unfortunately, because of all the legal issues involved with unionization attempts, opinion doesnt count for anything. It ends up being lawyer vs lawyer.

That also is a no win.

So a question for you. Are there theaters that should not be unionized ? And if so, why ? If not, why not ?

m

Mr. Cuban,

If you don’t understand why unions are necessary I suggest you read a book called “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair.

Also if you really think that addressing concerns with the company and management at Landmark is an effective way for employees to improve their work conditions you are sadly mistaken. I worked at the theaters in Minneapolis and I can tell you from first hand experience that not a single one of our concerns was addressed or solved until we found union representation. We spent no less than TWO YEARS actively petitioning the company for better wages and work conditions. We wrote letters, conducted formal wage surveys, sent faxes, made phone calls, spoke with the city manager, spoke with the district manager and had dozens of conversations with Emily Yu in Human Resources. What did we get? Cold indifference. A couple of union campaigns later here we are having our concerns addressed by the man at the top on our own message board - and you’re trying to tell me that unions don’t work? Posture all you want about actually addressing our concerns but we both know that the issues of the Landmark Employees wouldn’t have even entered your consciousness if these kids hadn’t organized.

Let’s not kid anyone - your only concern is your bottom line; any ostensible concern you show for our well-being will be perceived simply as public relations and damage control until you’ve proven otherwise. You are only looking out for your financial well-being and the financial well-being of your investors as any CEO is obligated to do. The inherent reality of this dynamic is that addressing and solving the concerns of individual employees will never be a real priority for you. That is why a union is necessary; it gives the employees the leverage needed to look out for their own financial well-being just as you are looking out for yours. Just as you have private citizens invest in your corporation, unions invest in the workers. They provide a service and we benefit from that service. Until ideas such as ‘morality’ and ‘ethics’ are included in the laws which govern commerce, unions will always be necessary. Unions are the ‘checks and balances’ of the business world and ‘checks and balances’ are the cornerstone of democracy. Republican or democrat, we all believe in democracy, right Mark?

Umm… was that in some kind of billionaires’ code?  Totally did not understand that, dude. Let’s try again.  I’ll start.

Here’s your question to me:

“Are there theaters that should not be unionized? And if so, why? If not, why not?”

Here’s my answer to that question:

Yes. If employees at a theater are treated fairly, listened to by management, responded to by management and are happy with their work environment, then why should they unionize?  It’s a lot of effort and risk for little gain.  Many people enjoy great non-union work environments.   We have all benefited in some way from the work of unions. Weekends, paid holidays, minimum wage, etc. are the direct results of union efforts.  Not everyone needs a union, and that’s fantastic.  But a lot of people do need unions. It is their right to join one and they should not be dissuaded.  

Now, if you would be so kind as to clarify what you were talking about in your last post…

You mention the word “agenda” three times.  What is the union agenda, please be specific, and why are you against it?  Really, because I just joined one and their agenda was presented as getting a wage increase and some sick time.  If there’s some insidious evil inherit to unions, I would really like to know about it before this thing goes too far.

You use the word “issues” five times.   I am particularly interested in what you consider the “other issues” specific to the Kendall to be.

Is there any occupation which you feel would benefit from unionization?  Dangerous work environments? Sweatshops? Anything? Ever?