NYC Alamo Drafthouse Workers On Strike in Manhattan & Brooklyn

On Friday, employees at Alamo Drafthouse’s Manhattan and Brooklyn locations, unionized as NYC Alamo United and represented by UAW Local 2179, walked out on strike. This strike is in response to the mass layoff of 70 employees, which the union filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge over because the company declared an impasse on the layoffs even though both parties continue to negotiate for an inaugural Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The 70 layoffs came two weeks after the Texas-based dine-in theater chain reduced its hourly staff by nearly 25% in every corporate-owned location across the country on January 14. Alamo cites unprecedented low projections for Q1 of the 2025 fiscal year as justification for the layoffs.

Alamo Drafthouse workers in NYC walked out on strike this evening in Manhattan and Brooklyn after Alamo fired 70 workers this month. Join the picket lines and support the workers! ⚡⚡@UAWRegion9Apic.twitter.com/HNCW8qFekf

— UAW (@UAW) February 15, 2025

NYC Alamo United, represented by UAW Local 2179, responded to the layoffs with a 98.2% yes vote for Strike Authorization amongst its bargaining unit and an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the National Labor Relations Board on February 4. The Alamo workers’ union has been negotiating for its first collective bargaining agreement with Alamo for over a year. Without a union contract, the company was obligated to negotiate layoffs, yet chose to impose them unilaterally and without fulfilling the union’s requests for information that prove the necessity of the layoffs. NYC Alamo United rejected the layoffs, deeming them ‘illegal’. The union proposed a reduction in hours instead, consistent with past practice of the Company. This counterproposal, and outstanding information requests, make the Company’s claim of “impasse” false.

After two more days of negotiations on February 11 and 12, the company continued to deny negotiating over the layoffs. NYC Alamo United asked the company if it would accept an effects proposal, which would offer all laid off workers a longer recall period and paid-out PTO and benefits, and offer severance. The company replied, “No.

”Alamo’s decision comes just seven months after the theater chain was acquired by Sony Pictures Entertainment on June 12, 2024. Sony acquired Alamo from Altamont Capital Partners and Fortress Investment Group for $200 million. With the acquisition, Sony became the first major Hollywood film production studio to own a movie theater chain since a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibiting film distribution companies from acquiring exhibition companies was overturned in 2020. Alamo still runs all 35 locations nationwide, but its CEO Michael Kustermann now also heads the new Sony Pictures Experience division. Notably, the company references "restructuring" in its internal documents and emails to NYC Alamo United in regards to these layoffs.

The Manhattan and Brooklyn locations have been plagued with chronic understaffing ever since the pandemic, as frequent customer complaints on social media platforms like Reddit and Twitter can corroborate. In spite of this, Alamo has laid off nearly a quarter of the staff at these locations. NYC Alamo United's bargaining committee has diligently worked to illustrate this to the company to no avail. Additionally, the Brooklyn and Manhattan theaters are its two most profitable locations, as confirmed by internal ticket admission numbers, with recent renovations at Brooklyn adding five new screens between spring and summer of 2024.

As of 1:00pm on February 14, Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn and Manhattan have stopped ticket sales, even in theaters that are at less than 50% capacity, for the entirety of the holiday weekend from February 14 to 17. Selectively “capping” ticket sales is a practice done routinely at the NYC Alamo Drafthouses as a result of understaffing, which undercuts box office performance, especially on holiday weekends and during highly anticipated releases.

Since reopening in May 2021, Alamo's NYC locations have steadily increased in admissions, including across Q1s. Q1 from 2022 to 2023 saw a 35% increase in net sales, with numbers remaining steady but still up 4% in 2024. So far in 2025, January saw an increase of 19% admissions from 2024 across both locations. NYC Alamo United fails to see how 2025 will be, in their words, "historically bad," as the information Alamo Drafthouse has provided seems to demonstrate the opposite.

NYC Alamo United announced on Instagram last week that their membership voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. On On February 3 at 5 PM, they launched their response to the layoffs with an informational picket at both the Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn locations simultaneously.

NYC Alamo United will be continuing their picketing on February 15 and 16 at both locations. For the latest updates, follow @nycalamounited on Instagram, Twitter, and BlueSky.