'Barbenheimer' boom for cinemas left workers 'pushed to the edge' - with workers at Alamo in NYC now voting to unionize

Workers at New York's Alamo Drafthouse Cinema have voted to unionize after the 'Barbenheimer' blockbuster boom 'pushed them to the edge.' 

In July, the same-day release of Barbie and Oppenheimer brought record breaking ticket sales. In their first weekend, Barbie's domestic total climbed to $162 million while Oppenheimer raked in $82 million.

While 'Barbenheimer' was great for the box office, cinema employees say the demand pushed them to their breaking point - and now they are unionizing.

The Manhattan Alamo Drafthouse voted to unionize on Thursday. They joined Alamo employees at the Brooklyn theater, who voted on September 29 to become part of Local 2179. 

'After years of appeals to management for better support from corporate – for example new or replacement equipment, pay raises, and adequate staffing – the workers are tired of being told that there isn’t room in Alamo’s budget for its most profitable venue,' Brooklyn organizers said in a statement according to Deadline.

'That [Barbenheimer] really pushed us to the edge,' said Maggie Quick, a guest attendant at Manhattan's Alamo Drafthouse. 

'It was just the constant understaffing and the emotional exhaustion.'

'People were waiting longer than usual for their food and that makes them short-tempered and impatient,' said Tyler Trautman, a shift leader. 

'We're the ones facing customers. It takes a toll, a mental toll, to be yelled at by guests because their drink has been taking an hour.'

Quick, Trautman and their colleagues at the Manhattan movie worked with United Auto Workers Local 2179 and voted with nearly two-thirds in favor to form a union.

'We're very excited to be moving forward in solidarity with Brooklyn. We have strength in our numbers and hope to see some real change,' said Quick.

An Alamo spokesperson said the company would decline comment.

Labor action has spread all across the entertainment industry from Hollywood writers and actors, and now movie theaters themselves are forming unions.

Over the past two years, employees have formed or attempted to form unions at the Film Forum and Anthology Film Archives in New York, the Amherst Cinema in Massachusetts and Alamo Drafthouses in San Francisco and Austin, Texas, home to Alamo's company headquarters.

For some, the transition to a union shop has gone smoothly. The owners in Amherst voluntarily agreed to recognize the union and a contract was reached earlier this year.

Film Forum workers, who unionized in 2022, agreed last summer to a 5-year contract that raises salaries by an average of 12 percent. Anthology Film Archives employees went on strike for a day last year, but have since agreed to terms.

'Overall, it's been fairly peaceful,' says Olga Brudastova, president of UAW Local 2110, which represents the Film Forum and Anthology Film Archives unions.

In a statement, Chad Bolton, the Film Forum general manager, said the contract was born from 'a thorough and thoughtful process.'

However at Alamo, some employees speak of ongoing resistance from the company and accuse them of trying to union-bust.

According to images and audio recordings obtained by The Associated Press, Alamo management in New York has posted flyers urging workers not to unionize and brought in speakers from Texas, including Alamo co-founder Tim League.

'We appreciate everything you do for our venue and believe we can work better together to solve problems without the need of a third-party like a union to come between us and charge you dues,' one flyer said. 

Prior to union voters in Brooklyn and Manhattan, Alamo held meetings acknowledging the staff's discontent but said issues could be resolved without a third party.

League said he understood why Hollywood writers and actors and autoworkers were striking, but said an Alamo union would be a communication block. He also shared his own support for various Democratic Party candidates like Bernie Sanders.

'I fully recognize my own personal bias here,' he said. 'I don't think that forming a union is the right solution for Alamo, that is my personal opinion. I'm concerned that a union is going to drive a wedge between us.'

'I personally feel strongly that inserting a union between you and me and the team hinders that goal. So that's why even after all the work, the hard work that´s been done to get to this point, I ask you to vote "no" in forming a union.'

Brooklyn employees voted to unionize by a margin of more than 2-to-1.

'For years the workers of Brooklyn Alamo have tried to solve problems through dialogue with management, to no avail,' the union said in a statement. 'Now Alamo Drafthouse must meet us at the bargaining table.'

According to Gallup data, support for unions has been rising in recent years and two-thirds of Americans approve of labor unions

More than 330,000 American workers have taken part in strikes across the US since the start of September.