Kendall Square Cinema Employee Union! - A Resource Site for Landmark Theater Employees

Almost there....

Sat, 10 May 2008 13:53:24 -0400

Welcome to the Kendall Square Cinema workers' union site!

Sat, 10 May 2008 13:54:05 -0400

Landmark workers in both Cambridge and Berkeley are involved in contract negotiations with Landmark Theaters. Negotiations are moving at a very slow pace. Very, very slow. Almost two years slow in the case of the Kendall.

Patrons should be aware that their cool art housey theater is dragging their feet to give their workers a fair contract.

Please browse the posts to see the history of unions at Landmark Theaters, join the site, leave your comments and/or contact Landmark directly at: comments@landmarktheatres.com

Thanks for stopping by!

A nice thought...

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 21:48:52 -0500

“ Our labor unions are not narrow, self-seeking groups. They have raised wages, shortened hours, and provided supplementary benefits. Through collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice and democracy to the shop floor. But their work goes beyond our borders.

For the labor movement is people. Our unions have brought millions of men and women together…and given them common tools for common goals. Their goals are goals for all America-and their enemies are the enemies of progress. The two cannot be separated.”

- John F. Kennedy

Excuse me, but could you please point out to me what democracy looks like?

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:27:57 -0500

This may be totally unrelated, or tangential at best, but a few Kendall employees ventured to DC over the
weekend to join approximately a bizillon people (that’s the unofficial count)
for the United for Peace march.

If anyone sees this dude, please alert us. It appears he's been up to no good.

Landmark Theaters Name Kendall Manager World’s Best Boss

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:05:12 -0500

That’s right, Kendall Square Cinema’s very own house manager,
Howie Sandler, was named Landmark’s manager of the year.

Congratulations!

What's outrageous? Kendall wages!

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 21:30:13 -0500

Thanks to everyone for a super successful first rally! It is fantastic to see so much energy and support from so many unions, community groups and former employees.

You guys rock!

More details, pictures and videos to follow.

But, right now, it's time for a drink.

Coming soon…

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 23:36:43 -0500

Please Join Us For A

UNION SOLIDARITY MARCH

In Support Of The
Kendall Cinema Workers
Fight for a Fair Contract!

December 15, 2006
5:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
at the

KENDALL SQUARE CINEMA
One Kendall Square
Cambridge, MA 02139

For Information please call the
Local 791 union office at 1-800-535-2752
United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 791

The Cult of Landmark Theater Employees

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 01:13:45 -0400

Sound familiar???

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cult of Landmark

Posted on Tabletmag.com

You've seen us on the streets of Capitol Hill, the U. District, and
Wallingford. Yes, you've seen us in our white shirts and ties in the
summer. When winter comes, you've seen us in our hoodies and cardigans.
We permeate the city. We are all around you. We could be your friend,
your neighbor, a relative or even a co-worker. If you live in the
Seattle area chances are you've known one of us—chances are you've
loved one of us—chances are you are one of us. That's right, I'm
talking about Landmark Theater employees.

We are very selective about who joins our ranks. You are obviously highly
intelligent and creative with a possible penchant for alcohol. Most
likely you know someone on the inside. You will quickly make new
friends with your fellow co-workers, and soon Landmark will be the only
social circle that you need. At phase one, you will start to
familiarize yourself with the job and your co-workers. You may hear the
names of other co-workers that you do not know—do not be alarmed.

After several months you will know your theater and all of the
employees there. You will learn and start to use the various perks
available to you. Also, you will become familiar with the names and
faces of the regular customers. This is phase two. At phase three you
will start to see how the various theaters are interconnected. Fellow
employees at phase three or above will most likely entrust you with
their first hand ghost encounters at the Neptune or the Harvard Exit.
They may also inform you which co-workers made out at the SIFF party
last year. You will start to learn the names and faces of all the
Landmark managers and employees, and you may even take a shift at a
theater other than your home theater.

Victory! - IWW Helps Landmark Cinemas Corporation Discover Cash

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 11:31:43 -0400

Posted on:
http://www.iww.org/en/node/2760

Submitted by bruce on Sat, 08/05/2006 - 3:16pm.

Workers at Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley and all Landmark Cinema employees nation wide are about to receive a pay increse.
At Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley the starting wage goes up to $8 per
hour from $7.25. That's if the workers choose to accept it. Landmark
attorney Tom Pavone sent a letter announcing the pay raises to the IWW
along with spread sheet data showing the increase for each worker.

The
IWW-Shattuckunion considers this to be a clear demonstration of union
power and will continue to press the company for gains in benefits and
improvments in working conditions. The IWW in the Bay Area
along with union workers at Kendall Square cinema in Cambridge Mass.,
are the first two Landmark Cinemas to go union. There are
approximately 60 Landmark theaters in total.

IWW-Shattuckunion will hold a rally in front of the Shattuck Cinema on September 1st at 6:30 pm.

Happy Birthday Kendall Union!

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:52:11 -0400

One year ago the Kendall Square Cinema staff voted 17-1 to join UFCW Local 791. Today, we
still do not have a contract. However, with 65% of the staff involved in the vote still working at the Kendall, new employees taking part in the process, negotiations continuing at a regular pace, plus our new drum-beating, song-singing, BFFs at the Shattuck …we’re still going strong.

Maybe if we had reached this point without support of patrons, local activist groups and all the well wishes from you all who read this site, or maybe if another Landmark hadn’t voted to join a union, we could be dismissed as just a bunch of disgruntled
ruffians and scalawags.

That’s not the case, give or take a scalawag.

Over the past three years, three Landmarks held union elections. While we’ve all worked together, all three discussed unionizing before contacting each other. Theatres in Minneapolis, Cambridge and Berkeley are reacting to cultural shift taking place in the service industry. We don’t live in a vacuum. Look at Borders and Starbucks. Check out what Chicago is doing. And the current minimum wage increases being debated.

And to everyone else who has been asking about organizing, why not? What do you have to loose? Just a $7.00 an hour job that may or may not give you a raise, where you are an “at-will” employee who can be fired at the
drop of a hat (literally, they could fire you for dropping your hat there's nothing you can do about it).

IWW Organizing Update - Shattuck Theater Workers Union Rally

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 02:37:03 -0400

Start: Jul 22 2006 - 2:00pm
End: Jul 22 2006 - 3:00pm

Event Details:

Shattuckunion workers begin contract talks with Landmark corporate attorneys on July 20th. Shattuckunion Rally on July 22 at 2pm in front of the theater. Workers need union and community supporters to tell the company we are not willing to accept a bad deal. Please organize yourself and your friends and associates to attend this rally. Mark your calendar.

For more information, visit our website: shattuckunion.iww.org

NBA hammers Cuban Mavs owner fined $250,000 for Game 5 'misconduct'

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 22:48:28 -0400

Jeez, maybe he can't afford to give us raises...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/nba/specials/playoffs/2006/06/20/cuban.fine.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

Banowsky's Big Scramble

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 22:50:46 -0400

Has any landmark employee had the enjoyment of Bill Banowsky coming to your market for a full-market meeting? I got back from one and oh boy was it fun. I thought he'd be vague with the whole purpose of his trip (pre-emptive union busting obviously) but nope within his opening paragraph he mentioned unions. It's funny how fast landmark can move if their bottom line may get hurt. And if landmark think a 35 minute meeting with the CEO and a lot of vague promises will smooth everything over, landmark has truly lost touch with their employees.

Landmark Workers Unite! Fighting Back Against Mark Cuban's Corporate Culture

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 21:41:37 -0400

Check out journalist Anthony Kaufman's blog entry about the Landmark Theatre unions:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/anthony/archives/010458.html