Living Wage victory

Entertainment union BECTU has secured a Living Wage victory at Curzon Cinemas.

Almost a year on from winning recognition at Curzon Cinemas, the union has secured an agreement with the company to pay the Living Wage.

The move makes Curzon the first cinema chain to accept the measure which sets an hourly rate for workers in and outside London.

Under the agreement, the company’s London-based staff will see their pay increase to £8 an hour, while their colleagues out of London will earn £7 an hour, both increases to take effect from 1 October 2014.

These increases will be followed in January 2015 with payment of the current Living Wage rates, £8.80 an hour in London and £7.65 outside London. The new agreement is underpinned by a commitment to pay the Living Wage “as long as the rate does not increase in excess of 3% above RPI”.

This welcome news contrasts sharply with the attitude of Curzon’s competitors, Picturehouse, which has confirmed that it is to cut 34 jobs out of 79 at the Ritzy Cinema to finance a pay settlement reached in September, which agreed moves towards a rate equivalent to the London Living Wage. A ballot for strike action at the Ritzy gets underway on 4 November.  

www.bectu.org.uk/news/2271