Meet Harold, Andrew and Bill.
Two of them are locked out projectionists. The other is a projectionist who supports their fight against the Viacom transnational's other profitable subsidiary (not Blockbuster Video), Famous Players.
Harld and Bill say they have worked 25 years for Famous Players. Never in 40 years has their union had a labour conflict, so this one caught them by surprise.
Both Harold and Bill have people depending on them. They earn between $22 and $26 per hour for skilled work. Before, they were guaranteed 22 hours work per week. Since January 16, they have walked the picket line. Their union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Machine Operators, refused to accept Famous Players' offer to strip 60 cents off of each dollar they earn.
If this were a public sector union like the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Liberal apologetics would excuse their cuts with the unsubstantiated "deficit and debt caused by public services" charge. Famous Players, on the other hand, has no debt and argues instead that the technology has miraculously made projectionists worthy of Mcwages. (I imagine the feds will pull a Klein and re-invent the deficit.)
Famous Players has forgotten that all of the projectionists were certified professionals until Alberta's government de-certified them. The projectionists who work the machines say they date back to the fifties, sixties and seventies.
If the projectionists really were useless, then there would be no lock out, just negotiation to phase them out. However, Famous Players has locked them out, leading me to believe the workers have value.
Two possible scenarios include the union-smashing domino theory and the idea that wage cuts reap profits. I tried to ask Famous Players why, but their Edmonton district office lacks both answering machines and staff.
The situation deteriorates. The Alberta Labour Board conciliator couldn't get them to negotiate, in part because Famous Players, who called the meeting, didn't show up. Alberta's pro-scab labour laws also discourage serious negotiations. Meanwhile, $4 to $8 movie consumers and even an Edmonton Sun movie reviewer are treated to shoddily projected movies province-wide, complemented by a desperate crop of free tickets.
."This situation is more a social problem than a labour dispute," says Andrew. "There's no possibility that someone can live on $7 per hour with a family." Famous Players wants the same amount of work for less pay; it stinks of the government's "same education for less money" theory. Families and living standards be damned.
One incident stick in my mind like a howling wind: A small sedan packed with teenagers zooms by the picket no less than three times. Each time they yell and hoot. On their last pass, the shotgun rider cheers, "Yeah! Get more money. Woo-woo!"
In response, Harold muttered aloud, "I just wish I had a job."
Students, of all people, should know the discomfort of unemployment and of living on low wages. Members of the STudent Organized Resistance Movement have picketed against this injustice for the past three weeks at the Paramount theatre on Jasper Avenue. Come around at 6:45 pm this Friday night and picket.
Defending the projectionists' right to a decent wage is a pre-emptive strike against a future of unemployment, subsidy, and picket lines. Instead of crossing the picket line, I ask you to join it. If you can't make it, please spread the news: boycott Famous Players.