Cinema workers to strike over London Living Wage at release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
London cinema workers are planning strike action around the release of Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in an ongoing campaign to receive the London Living Wage.
Workers at the Ritzy in Brixton and the Hackney Picturehouse are planning strikes between Thursday this week and Monday next week to align with the release of the the film on 18 November, which Picturehouse group owner Cineworld noted as one of two final big releases of the year.
Read more: The Jungle Book and Deadpool draw in moviegoers in first half for Cineworld
At Picturehouse, workers have said the company backtracked on a promise to move toward the independently calculated London Living Wage of £9.75 per hour, which is set at the amount needed to meet basic living costs.
London mayor Sadiq Khan promised to raise the living wage beyond £10 per hour during his first term.
Ritzy workers campaigned for the London Living Wage in 2014, but won a 26 per cent increase in pay, which was less than they demanded.
Read more: The best and worst places in London for paying Living Wages
The dates for the strike were announced on the Facebook page "A Living Wage for Ritzy Staff", which says staffers are striking because they believe "everyone has the right to be able to afford to watch wonderful films full of hope like the Harry Potter series".
Yesterday Cineworld, owner of the two cinemas, reported an 8.4 per cent rise in UK and Irish revenues from the beginning for the year to 10 November.