South Lamar Alamo Cinema Sees a Fight Over Unionization

Tensions between workers and management at the Alamo South Lamar – the flagship location of the Alamo Drafthouse chain – reached new highs last week as union organizers with Drafthouse United organized a walkout. The union has now claimed that one of the organizers was fired in retaliation for the protest.

A little after 3:30pm on July 5, the Drafthouse United Twitter account announced that the June 30 deadline they had set for management to give raises that would provide staff with a living wage "or at least be provided a clear plan of action" had passed without clear response. As a result, staff would be walking out (later they clarified this was a sick-out) and requested that customers who held tickets for screenings that night request a rain check. The following day, server Simon Ingrand was fired after management claimed he used a company database to get employee contact information to organize the walkout – a claim he denies. (At press time, the Alamo had not issued any comment on either the union or his firing.)

The Drafthouse unionization effort began last year when staff reached out to the Austin chapter of the Industrial Workers of the World, and they officially announced their decision to form a union in February of this year. Zach "Corpse" Corpstein, a Drafthouse United organizer and server since 2017, estimated that roughly two-thirds of the roughly 130 staff at South Lamar have joined. However, the Drafthouse has as yet not voluntarily recognized the union, and Drafthouse United is not actively seeking a National Labor Relations Board-held election to require recognition. "In our eyes, it gives the bosses more time to strategize or union bust," said Corpstein, who added that staff who participated in the sick-out have faced disciplinary action.

Drafthouse United has said the Alamo management has been engaging in informal and small group meetings with staff rather than talking directly with the union organizers. Katie Ward, a part-time server at Alamo South Lamar and Drafthouse United Organizing Committee member, said, "Every month or so, a member of management will offer to host a private meeting limited to certain staff members to hear complaints. Although some of those staff members are public members of the union, these were not union negotiation meetings and they did almost nothing to improve the working conditions."

Initially, the union was requesting discussions with management on a wide slate of employment issues, including staffing levels and the decision – after South Lamar reopened in 2021 – to have servers pool tips. However, over time the group refocused on wages, with Drafthouse United requesting a $4-$5 per hour immediate raise at all levels. Corpstein noted that the union had "weighed the pros and cons" of moving away from tip pooling, "but it would be a lot of red tape to get that restructured," so they concentrated on using base pay as a way to improve take-home salaries and tackle how understaffed they are, which he referred to as "anywhere between 'desperately' to 'badly.'"

The union proposes a $20-per-hour minimum wage for salaried employees, rising to a starting salary of $26 per hour for supervisors. As for employees who are part of the tip pool, their target is $6 per hour for new servers, rising to $8 per hour for experienced staff. Ward said last week's action came after months of promises of pay restructuring from the corporate offices, and Corpstein noted that the problem seems to be the new corporate management in place since founder Tim League stepped down as CEO in 2020, to be replaced by former Starbucks executive Shelli Taylor, and the 2021 sale of the chain to existing majority shareholder Altamont Capital Management and new investor Fortress Investment Group LLC.