NEW YORK — Loud chants of “Union power, worker strong!” echoed up and down the street in front of the Alamo Drafthouse dine-in theater in Lower Manhattan March 7. Car drivers honked in support and passersby stopped to take a flyer, make a donation and chat with the strikers, members of NYC Alamo United, part of United Auto Workers Local 2179.
“We voted for the union in the fall of 2023,” Xavier Ilyas told the Militant. “But we still don’t have a contract.”
“They laid off 70 workers, 30 here and 40 at the Brooklyn location,” Onyx Wright said. “So on Feb. 14 we all walked out.” She’s worked at Alamo in Brooklyn for two-and-a-half years as a server and guest attendant.
“They said this was the slow season,” Wright said. “But it’s very busy all the time. They were just making the rest of us work harder.” Workers voted 98.2% to authorize the strike.
The theater chain, which was purchased by Sony Pictures in 2024, has 35 locations nationwide. Most are nonunion. The Brooklyn and Manhattan locations are the company’s most profitable outlets.
The workers have filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. Because the union is in contract negotiations, Ilyas said, “the company is required to negotiate layoffs” But bosses have refused to do that. The union is demanding the laid-off workers be reinstated with back pay.
“We’ve gotten a lot of support,” Wright said. Ticket sales at the theater have dropped substantially.