user preferences

New Events

Netherlands / Germany / Austria

no event posted in the last week

Support the workers of Babylon Cinema in Berlin

category netherlands / germany / austria | workplace struggles | appeal / petition author Friday March 27, 2009 02:20author by JH Report this post to the editors

On March 11, Benoit Robin, a projectionist at Babylon Cinema in Berlin and an activist of FAU, was fired from his job. He was in the midst of organizing for improved working conditions in the cinema.

In January a FAU group was organized at the cinema. The workers there have poor wages: from 5.5-6 euro per hour, 6.4 euro for projectionists. This is a very poor wage in the industry. Many of the workers are precarious and have no contracts. They have no paid holiday or other benefits. By comparison, workers in another cinema chain receive 8.5 euro per hour plus 30 pays paid vacation.

Currently 27 people work at the cinema.

The cinema cannot be said to be in poor financial condition. As an art cinema, it receives a large government subsidy - almost a half million euros per year. Despite this, the workers in Babylon Cinema get extremely low wages - even less than in some workplaces known for their extremely poor work conditions.

The workers at the cinema organized a protest during the Berlin film festival. A month later, Robin was fired. It is believed that he was fired due to this organizing campaign.

Robin was not the only comrade ever fired from Babylon. Last year one comrade was fired for no reason but later received compensation for this. He is currently involved in the protests and organizing campaign.

The workers of the cinema have a blog: http://prekba.blogsport.de
There is also an online petition you can sign: http://prekba.blogsport.de/solidaritaets-erklaerung

There is a video here (in German) with a machine translation of an article about the situation, but you can get the sense.
http://freundeskreis-videoclips.de/en/arbeitskampf-kino-babylon-berlin-mitte/

FAU was asking people to send letters to the cinema:

Neue Babylon Berlin GmbH
tgrossman@kinoundkonzerte.de
hackel@babylonberlin.de
Tel.: 0049 (0)30-24 727 804
Fax: 0049 (0)30-24 727 800
Re.: Dismissal of Benoit Robin
It has come to my attention that staff at the Babylon Cinema and the FAU-IWA, which has a presence there, have been opposing the precarious working conditions at the cinema.
I was sorry to learn that projectionist and union member Benoit Robin was fired just before he would have become entitled to job protection. This message is a strong protest against that unfair labour practice. Beyond the issue immediately at hand, I urge you to desist from interfering with organizing in your shop.
Best Regards

Copy of your letter to: faub5@fau.org

author by A-infospublication date Fri Mar 27, 2009 03:20author address author phone Report this post to the editors

La organización anarcosindicalista alemana FAU solicita apoyo en una lucha que llevan contra unos cines de Berlín.

El cine Babylonia no respeta los derechos de l@s trabajador@s y ha despedido a un militante de la FAU : Benoit Robin.

La FAU lucha para conseguir la readmisión de este compañero.

Podemos mandar e-mails de protesta a las siguientes direcciones del cine Babylonia:

tgrossman@kinoundkonzerte.de

hackel@babylonberlin.de

Por favor, mandad copia de los e-mails a la FAU: faub5@fau.org

 

This page has not been translated into Polski yet.

This page can be viewed in
English Italiano Deutsch
© 2005-2024 Anarkismo.net. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Anarkismo.net. [ Disclaimer | Privacy ]