From: kdenning@portal.hq.videocart.com (Karl Denninger)
Subject: PATRONIZE Cineplex Odeon (WAS: Re: Boycott Cineplex Odeon)
Organization: VideOcart Inc.
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 23:58:20 GMT

In article <1992Nov20.012528.24773@gagme.chi.il.us> grnwood@gagme.chi.il.us (Jerry Greenwood) writes:
>CINEPLEX ODEON Corporation of Toronto Canada is currently engaged in
>attempting to destroy over 300 families in the Chicagoland area.  Members
>of the Motion Picture Projectionists Union Local 110 of Chicago have been
>locked out of their jobs as of November 8th, 1992, at midnight.

Oh yeah, right.  Destroy eh?

>The whole thing goes something like this.....
>Automated equipment was installed, in anticipation of a lockout, over a
>period of one month in all major outlets in the chain.  

Read:  	Cineplex Odeon took the step of mechanizing a mechanical process,
	that is, displaying a movie is now a "one button" process for the
	projectionist.  "Click"!

	A process which SHOULD HAVE been mechanized 10 years ago.  Why
	wasn't it?  Certainly not due to the cost.  Probably due to a
	restrictive contract with a union.

>The locks were
>changed at the theatres one week before contract negotiations were to
>begin.  

Standard procedure if you think someone is going to either harass or
sabotage your equipment.

> At the first negotiation session they made an offer that would cut
>our membership by 75% and cut the wage & benefit package for those
>remaining by 85%. Yes, you heard it correctly, 85%!  

Of course, if I remember the figures correctly, the union thought that they
should get paid $85.00/hour/movie screen while the movies were running.
Never mind that it only takes one projectionist to run a screen even if he
or she is monitoring the movie all the time, and in a pinch one
projectionist can handle several screens.

Just what is it about displaying movies that is worth $85.00 per hour for a
projectionist?  Just what skill is displayed worth that kind of wage?  I'd
love to make that kind of money as a programmer!

My understanding is that Cineplex Odeon offered in excess of $15.00/hour in
pay, plus benefits.  That reflects a reasonable workload (one projectionist
per screen) instead of enough pay to staff the place until projectionist
parts were hanging out the windows.  It also reflects a living wage.

>of 239 to 1. We were locked out three days later. Pamphlets explaining why
>we were locked out were already printed by CINEPLEX ODEON before we voted
>and wildly inflated hourly wage claims were leaked to the press.

So what were the REAL hourly charges to Cineplex Odeon?  Why not disclose
them to the public and let us decide?  Cineplex has already made a statement
on the matter.  If you believe their statement is materially false, then let's
hear the union's side of this.

>In response to this letter you may hear that we have too many men and we
>make too much money.  The purpose of this article is not to talk about
>those allegations.  It's about negotiation.  At our last contract talks we
>gave back 30% in cuts.  We knew going in that we'd have to give back some
>more and talk about personnel reductions.  We never got the chance!

For those of us who like to watch movies, and don't like paying as much as
we do and the increase over the last few years, I think it >is< the point.

The point is that labor/management is a negotiation situation.  If you can
be replaced by someone making half the money, or less, you will be.  
Especially true today with a tight economy and no shortage of people out of
work willing to push one button every two hours for $15.00/hour.

>Gerald C. Greenwood 
>Projectionist Local 110 IATSE
>grnwood@gagme.chi.il.us

I'll patronize Odeon theatres if for no other reason than the pickets, and
have been to one within the last week.  I was handed two pieces of paper.
The one from the pickets told me how unfair Cineplex Odeon was.  The one
from Cineplex management told me what your union >was< getting paid, what 
they proposed, and that the union had said "no".  

By the way, the quality of the projection didn't suffer due to the lack of
"qualified" projectionists as the union had claimed it would.

Unions have their place.  Exhorbitant wage demands isn't one of them.

--
Karl Denninger 		Inet:  kdenning@hq.videocart.com
VideOcart Inc.		Voice: (312) 987-5022
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