Green Party leader Natalie Bennett has joined local Green councillor Scott Ainslie in offering her support for the strikers at the Ritzy cinema in Brixton, who are taking action to try to win a living wage.
Ritzy workers are on strike following months of dispute with management over the failure to pay a living wage – as pictured on the Brixton Blog
The Green Party’s Cllr Ainslie was recently elected to represent St. Leonard’s ward, Lambeth and is an ongoing supporter of the workers’ campaign. Following his visit to the picket line yesterday he said:
“At the Ritzy, 2 medium sized boxes of popcorn cost £8.20; 1 glass of Merlot £9.80; a cinema ticket £12.50. Staff currently get paid £7.24 for an hour of their life. As a member of the highly successful Ritzy, I am appalled that management are dragging their heels on the LLW. Picture houses need to do the right thing.”
Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett added her support to the campaign, saying: “I want to express my full support to the Ritzy cinema workers, and give my full backing to their strike action.
“Everyone deserves a wage that they can build a life on, not simply scrape by, always living hand to mouth. The demand to be paid a London Living Wage (of £8.80 an hour) is more than reasonable and it is shocking that management feel their staff do not deserve even that.
“For management to pull out of talks shows a complete lack of respect for their staff who often work long and anti-social hours. The union and the workforce have bent over backwards to be reasonable but there comes a point when there are no options but strike action.
“I fully back BECTU’s call for a boycott of all UK cinemas operated by Picture House (who run the Ritzy) and call on the employers to meet their obligations to society by paying their workers the living wage and to commit to maintaining at least that level in future.”