RethinkElectricBham

Please follow if you care about the future of The Electric Cinema Birmingham, UK.

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

Thread: On March 17th 2020 the @ElectricBham staff (a team of around 17 full & part-time) were informed of their imminent redundancy without consultation via Whatsapp group message. #CultureInCrisis @BFI

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

Cinema workers all over the country are hoping that the re-opening of independent cinemas doesn’t mean a return to the status quo. “All we can do now is point out what happened & make sure people don't forget about it". “The cycle can't start again.”
https://t.co/Q5Lk0MWaUD

[Rachael Healy @ohrhealy]

Some indie cinemas are progressive, inclusive spaces, but for many workers, this vision of the sector has always been a fantasy – one that’s been starkly exposed in the pandemic. Huge thanks to the many current and ex-workers who shared their experiences https://t.co/LpzIqSfarM

[Dr Sabina Stent @SabinaStent]

@tomjowetttt @MichaelJLeader @ElectricRethink I love the building and the cinema, but the management’s behaviour has certainly lost them many longtime patrons.

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

@FrancisMorris99 Hi Francis, could you send a DM?

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

'The dream is that one day, all businesses will be ranked based on this and that a great culture and commitment to diversity will be celebrated more than the food.'
@kelly_cause @Darjeelingldn #ActuallyGoodJobs #Hospitality
https://t.co/5WpvCVh4iA

[Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana]

Last night I voted to ban "fire & rehire" practices.

This disgraceful practice is used to drive down pay & conditions, like what's happening at British Gas at the moment.

But the Tories refused to back the motion.

Why? They're on the side of the bosses, not the workers.

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

Sadly a common practice enforced by the @ElectricBham owner and MD. Improper redundancies and exclusion tactics.

[Trades Union Congress @The_TUC]

Forcing people to reapply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions is plain wrong.

Fire-and-rehire tactics have no place in modern Britain and must be outlawed.

https://t.co/sedjfbCCKy

[Save Tyneside @SaveTyneside]

Presenting a facade of inclusion &/or radical politics, marketing themselves on that facade, but treating actual staff like garbage.

Sound familiar???

Independent cinemas are capitalising on ~social issues~ without doing any real work to combat them

[Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana]

1. Exploiting workers.

Saved you all time from reading the article, you’re welcome!

[The Guardian @guardian]

Top UK bosses are paid 115 times more than average worker, analysis finds https://t.co/2JROPTpF1H

[David Baldwin @dbaldwinfilm]

I do have to point out this unchallenged comment from Tom's interview about Electric redundancies. What exactly is a 'zombie job'? It's like he did his staff a favour by not furloughing them. What a hero.

[Paul B @Sedona_Red]

If I won the lottery the first thing I think I would do is buy @electricbham. The insight the current situation has given into the present owner and how he treats staff, and indeed customers/members, is not good to say the least.

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

"If the choice ends up being between the death of cinemas as a money-making venture, or a business-as-usual return that relies on exploiting a precariously employed workforce, then I would choose death." @YearZeroCinema #CultureInCrisis

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

"The takeaway from the situation is not that the pandemic had forced the hand of struggling cinemas. Rather, the pandemic had pushed conditions that were already exploitative to unbearable levels." @YearZeroCinema

[Cathy Brennan @TownTattle]

#mydreampalace This year cinema workers across the UK raised their voices about exploitative practices and the wider film industry tried to gloss it over by invoking romantic myths about going to the movies.

Me for @yearzerocinema and @ultradogme

https://t.co/VMC0uGvqE9

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

"What’s required is an exhibition sector that prioritises the well-being of its frontline workers, a feat which would require imagination, an end to zero-hours contracts, and almost-certainly a few well-placed pay cuts at the top." @YearZeroCinema @BFI #CultureInCrisis

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

"It speaks to a certain attitude among individuals at the top of the industry, an attitude that prioritises institutions over people every time." @YearZeroCinema #EconomicClass

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

"On one end, are the defiant voices of cinema workers across the UK. On the other side there are the comfortable complacents: CEOs, analysts, prominent critics, & publicists, who talk about the cinema as an endangered species under threat from streaming."@YearZeroCinema

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

"It is quasi-religious fantasy which in the 21st century is provided at the expense of an underpaid, precariously employed workforce. As with many fantasies about living under capitalism, it can only convince by omitting the human misery that props it up." @YearZeroCinema @BFI

[RethinkElectricBham @ElectricRethink]

"As workers across the country were speaking up, leading figures in the British film industry were more concerned about getting cinemas reopened again, rather than making sure the people working in them were treated fairly." @YearZeroCinema

[Save Tyneside @SaveTyneside]

🎉Here's to a new year of celebrating our cinemas progressive & inclusive futures, not romanticised pasts.

🎉Here's to looking out for each other, challenging bad practice, listening to survivors, protecting workers, valuing all staff & changing the industry. #Cinema #2021 📽️✨