Media Academics in Support of A Living Wage for Ritzy Workers

I am writing to you as a media/film/tv academic urging you to pay the workers at the Ritzy cinema a London Living Wage.  As someone who studies the media I appreciate the diversity  that the Picturehouse chain brings to cinemagoers in the UK. However, PictureHouse/CineWorld must recognise that without their workers, they have nobody to operate the sites and make the sales you depend on. The Ritzy workers are struggling with a cost of living crisis and the current hourly rate is pushing them below the poverty line. Ritzy staff deserve to be treated with respect by their employers. This means paying them the London Living Wage. I am sure you appreciate how much damage this dispute is doing to your reputation, with famous directors and stars supporting the Ritzy workers and wider public support growing all the time.  And now BECTU has called for a national boycott of all Picturehouse cinemas. From a brand and economic point of view, but most of all in terms of social justice, I urge you to meet the Ritzy workers’ demands for a London Living wage now.