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April 15, 2004
Landmark Theatre's Uptown Theatre Workers poised to take on Texas basketball mogul.
On Wednesday, April 14th the workers at all three of Landmark Theatre's Twin Cities movie theatres filed a petition for a Union election with the National Labor Relations Board. Employees of the popular "art-house" theatres, the Edina Cinema in Edina, MN and the Lagoon Cinema and the Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis, MN, have petitioned to join the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 789 of South St. Paul, MN. If successful, these workers will create the first unionized movie theatre in the State of Minnesota.
"We love our jobs. We love movies. We like the people we work with. We just want to be able keep our jobs, pay our rent, and be appreciated for what we contribute," Lagoon Cinema worker Emily Davis explained. Landmark Theatres doesn't offer full-time positions to any of its regular local employees. Recent cutbacks in hours and unpredictable scheduling have created problems for Landmark's workers, most of whom live in the City of Minneapolis. With a $6.80/hr wage cap at the Lagoon Cinema and Uptown Theatre, many workers hold two, sometimes three jobs in order to remain self-sufficient.
Nine-year employee, Sybil Smith explains, "I'm really proud of what we're building here. Sometimes workers like us are just invisible. We appreciate our customers. We like the same movies they do. We hope they'll support us as we try to protect our jobs." Landmark's workers and the UFCW Local 789 intend to take this case to the movie-going public throughout the organizing campaign.
"The issue here is that Landmark Theatres has changed. The independent art-house theatres are getting bought out by entertainment empires," Uptown Theatre worker Dan Schneidkraut explained, "the movies they show, the way they're managed, it's changed as theatre owners have gotten farther and farther away." In September of 2003 Landmark Theatres was purchase by 2929 Entertainment Company which is co-owned by Dallas Maverick's owner, Mark Cuban. Landmark Theatres Corporation was founded in 1974 and operates 57 theatres with 204 screens in 14 states across the U.S.
The UFCW Local 789 is part of the 1.4 million United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO. Local 789 has 7500 members and represents workers in the grocery stores, drug stores, book stores, nursing homes, meat packing plants, and manufacturing and laundry facilities
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