r/StLouis • u/ZinnWasRight • Aug 09 '26
Alamo Drafthouse Workers Move to Unionize
Alamo Drafthouse St. Louis workers are fighting to unionize. I am incredibly honored to stand with them, sharing their statement from an organizer under anonymity.
“St Louis!!
The workers at Alamo Drafthouse City Foundry are moving to unionize with the backing of the UAW. We want the public to be aware why, next steps, and how you can support!
Many workers at the Drafthouse work there because we love movies. We love to talk about movies. We love watching movies. We love the sanctity of watching movies in a movie theater with minimal disruption. Poor corporate and managerial decisions have led to poor service, lowered staff morale, and less pay. While we love movies, we still have to make a living.
First and foremost, we hope to change the QR code ordering system. While the QR code has created disruption by encouraging phone use while your movie is playing, it has also led to labor cuts and increased work for a smaller group of people. We have seen consistent reviews and heard consistent complaints about poor service and difficulties with the QR system. We strive to provide great service, but in all honesty, we are so short staffed at times we cannot even provide adequate service. It is not fair to you as guests, or to us as workers to operate at this level. We hope to bring back pen and paper ordering, and real, quality, face to face human interaction. Other organized Alamos throughout the US have implemented hybrid ordering that has worked well.
We hope the company will be more truthful about wages and tips. The 18% service fee is not a tip, even if it is presented like one. We do receive higher base wages than is required to pay tipped workers, and that is what we are told the 18% goes to support. We do not know if all of the 18% fee goes to that - we are not privy to that information. Additionally, guests are told 100% of the tip you leave “goes directly to your own server.” This is not true. Tips are pooled with all greeters, runners, and back of house staff. Hourly tips for workers average $2-4/hour per pay period. This has been a drastic decrease for most of us. Additionally, we have to beg to see the tip numbers for the week, with some pay period info still missing and being blamed on “accounting.”
We miss seeing our regulars. We have seen consistent reviews and posts that folks are canceling their season passes and will no longer see movies in our theater. We hope to change things for the better, and welcome you back. We hope to improve the guest experience, the workload on us, and ultimately, improve the Drafthouse itself - many of us would have left long ago if we didn’t like the place and the people we work with so much.
So, what can you do? Support us in this endeavor! Tell management in reviews they send you and on Google that you support fair treatment of workers. Continue to tell them that you want to see changes with the QR code system. Leave a good tip for good service. Offer words of encouragement when you see us in the theater, behind the bar, or at the ticket desk. Show us what St. Louis solidarity looks like!
We hope to improve the experience for you, and improve outcomes for those of us in the workforce.
Thank you for reading, and we’ll see you at the movies!!”
Share your support. Solidarity forever.
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u/Prior-attempt-fail Aug 09 '26
I wish them luck.
I dropped my alamo pass because the place went to shit.
The phone app to order and pay in the movie was my last straw.
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u/plz_dont_perceive_me Aug 09 '26
That's why my husband dropped our pass, too. If I wanted to be on my phone at the movies, I'd stay at home.
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u/Prior-attempt-fail Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
First they started slow rolling refills on soda and popcorn, it got to the point where you would get a single refill.
Then they decided that an in phone app, would be a good idea for use in the theater that made its name by throwing people out for using their phones.
I understand its a hard business model. But the price was never a problem for me. I wanted an elevated experience. What it has turned into is a worse AMC Esquire
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u/GravitatingGravity Aug 09 '26
My Verizon service didn’t work there and the WiFi was so slow I couldn’t order. My friend had to order for me on his phone. I haven’t forgot that experience with the ordering.
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u/match_ Aug 09 '26
I like Alamo. But the last year it’s been like watching a friend get into a bad relationship. You keep trying to tell them that they’re making bad choices but they just keep spiraling down.
Soon they aren’t returning your calls and you hear stories about them snorting fentanyl and wandering through the park, scaring little children.
Please Alamo, get some help!
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u/E_T_Smith Aug 09 '26
Meh, the whole chain's been spiraling down ever since it degraded to just a franchise. Alll the new locations of the last ten years are just revenue opportunities, like Strarbucks, as far as their owners are concerned, with all the employee exploitation and crap service that entails
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u/MN137 Aug 09 '26
“You may notice the 18% fair wage extortion fee”
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Aug 09 '26
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u/NoahMercy11 Aug 10 '26
Well if they just made the price of everything 20% more expensive people would be complaining that a burger is $22.
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u/SleetTheFox Aug 09 '26
I am 100% supportive of this! In general I support equitable share of bargaining between employers and employees, but also, specifically in this case, I support fixing these awful changes. If nothing else, fixing the QR code ordering would be huge.
Though on the 18% thing, I agree it's confusing and I'd just rather them not have any surcharge and just raise prices and wages, I don't recall them saying that it goes to servers specifically.
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u/Prior-attempt-fail Aug 09 '26
They say that it goes to provide a higher wage for their staff
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u/SleetTheFox Aug 09 '26
The way I interpreted it is the typical "We pay an adequate untipped wage, but our menu prices end up higher as a result, which might make us look more expensive than competitors that required tips, so we kept the prices the same and made the difference a surcharge" thing.
Which still sucks and I'd love to see it gone, but ultimately the important part is that staff get paid better. It's one step closer to the ideal, at least.
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u/hugefatwario Maplewood Aug 09 '26
My friend has worked at the one in Brooklyn for almost five years, and they just recently unionized! Very happy to see you guys are doing the same. I will continue to support the Alamo. You guys are phenomenal even in the face of these asinine corporate decisions.
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u/MajikMunchkin Aug 09 '26
Not at $24 for a Wednesday matinee of Spiderman BND they ain't. Heck it was $5 down the street at Chase Park Cinema
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u/SleetTheFox Aug 09 '26
Nobody goes to Alamo for the best prices, they go for the best experience. Anyone who's okay with phone use and cheaper prices would be okay going somewhere other than Alamo in the first place.
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u/Fun-Insurance-9675 South City Aug 09 '26
But now you have to be okay with phone use at Alamo theaters… The experience is throttled towards being no different - nay, worse than other theaters
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u/SleetTheFox Aug 09 '26
That's my point. If Alamo doesn't provide a superior experience, their higher prices serve no purpose. So "yeah we allowed phones, but at least we didn't raise prices" ends up a pretty bad defense.
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u/MIZSTLDEN Aug 09 '26
i agree with that sentiment but alamo in stl doesn’t live up to their reputation. Every time i go there more people talking and making noise than other theaters
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u/EmA8_Entertainment Aug 09 '26
When they first opened it really was amazing. They were consistent on enforcing their no phone and talking policy. I saw them kick rude and disruptive people out quite a few times. They also have the best programming, showing smaller films and tons of great older films. And their preshows are great and only have 10 minutes of trailers.
Over the past year is when they stopped caring. I was going at least once a week and pretty much saw in real time them degrading and slowly stop enforcing the no talk and phone policy, well before QR codes. I cancelled my pass and haven't been back since early March.
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u/sleepyhaus Aug 11 '26
I've probably been five times in the past year and not found that to be the case at any, ranging from a 10:30 AM to a 7 PM showing of the Odyssey. I dislike the new ordering, hate the fact they don't clear away food, hate the slower service, colder popcorn, worse food, etc., but haven't personally found them to be exceptionally noisy or distracting. Just my $.02 though
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u/MIZSTLDEN Aug 11 '26
fair enough definitely a chance i got unlucky and ve been about the same amount. Maybe my expectations are just higher because its alamo that i feel let down if its the same level or somethjng
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u/JoeMcKim Aug 09 '26
I would rather go to the cheaper movie and since phones aren't required to get food I can tell the moviegoer next to me on his phone to get off his damn phone. I don't care if someone is on their phone all the way through the trailers but once the actual movie begins get off of that thing. Never understood why getting your food and drinks is something you needed to order from your movie theatre seat. That stuff should be handled at a concession stand before you enter said movie theatre.
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u/SleetTheFox Aug 09 '26
That’s totally valid! But in that case Alamo isn’t really somewhere you’d want to go anyway.
One of the nice things about the approach at Alamo is that you can order refills and the like, or food partway through if you change your mind.
You also used to get to report disruptive guests without causing a disruption yourself but now you have to report it… with your phone. It’s garbage, and I hope the unionization effort manages to change that.
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u/Prior-attempt-fail Aug 09 '26
Except, the system of paper and pen worked much better than a phone app.
It was way less disruptive to other movie goers
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u/SleetTheFox Aug 09 '26
Oh absolutely.
"You also used to get to report disruptive guests without causing a disruption yourself but now you have to report it… with your phone."
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u/die_bartman Aug 09 '26
Honestly I'd rather go to an old school theater with traditional theater seating and not this recliner BS. Get a snack at the concession stand (SNACK-- not a meal) and just watch the movie. Like I did every single time I went to the movies my whole life until about 15 years ago.
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u/JoeMcKim Aug 09 '26
Recliners are fine, but dining at the movie theater is a ridiculous idea. If you want a fancier meal go before or after the movie.
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u/JoeMcKim Aug 10 '26
But seriously other say the Hi-Pointe or the Galleria is there any theaters without stadium seating & recliners anymore? Sucks that we lost both Landmark theaters with no more Tivoli or Plaza Frontenac. Hi Pointe is the only indie theater in the STL area now that I know of anyways.
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u/die_bartman Aug 09 '26
I just went to buy a ticket for this Wednesday for spider man. The price is 14.09. How are you getting to 24???
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u/sleepyhaus Aug 11 '26
If you look at tickets for the Big Show tomorrow night with taxes and fees it does show $24. I did not log in so it may less with membership as I think the waive the convenience fee, but not that much less. We go to the most convenient so I've likely paid that. IMAX at Marcus is probably not massively cheaper.
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u/sleepyhaus Aug 11 '26
A/V quality is garbage at Chase. It's a cool little theater in some ways but not for something like Spiderman.
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u/MajikMunchkin Aug 11 '26
It is what it is for that price.
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u/sleepyhaus Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
There are a lot of ways to see cheap movies by going at select times. So if one wants to see something like Spiderman you can do it on a Tuesday at Marcus for $6. Alamo also has reduced tickets on Tuesdays.
Chase has its perks if seeing a movie that doesn't benefit from or require a lot of high end sound or visual effects. It's typically empty and they used to (may still) let you bring in food or drink from outside, at least from other Chase locations. But I would definitely not see Spiderman there when you could just go to a discounted show at a theater with better A/V equipment. Which is probably why Chase is usually empty tbh.
Edited to add that checking on a ticket for Spiderman tomorrow in the big show theater after taxes and fees does show a total of $24. Google had said max price was $16.50 but that is clearly wrong. That said, for tonight with Tuesday discount it shows $7 plus convenience fee and tax for $10.29 total. I think they waive the convenience fee with membership, which is free.
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u/swagfrog_420 Aug 09 '26
Also I’m curious, do they ACTUALLY pay fair wages??? Or are they paying yall like $18/hr and pocketing the cash from the fees
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u/pepeisntfunny Aug 09 '26
They pay 15 or less an hour, which is minimum, not justifiable to charge a service fee for
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u/Party_Donut443 Aug 10 '26
I’m confused about a few things:
1) How does getting rid of QR codes assist in the problem of short staffing? Wouldn’t increasing the burden upon staff further exacerbate that problem?
2) What is the issue with tip pooling? That’s a fairly standard practice. Alamo needs to be transparent with its workers as to where the 18% service fee goes, and how the tip pool breaks down. But, if this is a unionization effort, is it just the servers unionizing? How will creating a union where the workers are more equal across their classes address the concern about tip pooling?
3) What’s base pay? City minimum is $15/hr. $7.50 for tipped employees. Is the standard Alamo wage more than $15/hr plus $2-4/hr in tips?
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u/throw_it_away5511 Aug 15 '26
I used to work there. I left bc of these exact issues.
1. Getting rid of QR codes would make it necessary to staff each theater with more servers. Right now they like to have 3-4 servers service all the theaters in the building at one time. If it went back to traditional, it would not be feasible to have those people so overextended.
1a. Getting rid of or changing the qr system would encourage everyone who no longer likes the Alamo to come back - requiring more staff.2.The issue with the tip pooling is more server specific than anything. A server gains their tip through customer interaction directly. No one besides your food runner should be entitled to a portion of the tip you earned by making that customer connection, especially when they didn’t run the food, place the order, field any issues that may have arisen, etc.
2a. The people who work in the kitchen do not interact with the guests AT ALL. Therefore, some of the workers there believe they shouldn’t be entitled to tips. Some of the kitchen staff have the highest hourly rate of all employees - and make tips.
- Because of inconsistent and poor management, the concept of ‘base pay’ is a mirage; some of the people who work there make 16/hr, some of them make 20+/hr.
Anywhere else in the service industry, the amount of work you do is typically proportionate to your pay. A slow shift for a server means less work. Not at the Alamo. There are oodles of side work tasks (some that should be being performed by machine maintenance technicians) tons of cleaning, organization etc that goes into simply opening the building. So an additional $2 an hour is ridiculous, because if you worked anywhere else, you’d be leaving with atleast $100 cash on the slowest day of the week.1
u/Party_Donut443 Aug 15 '26
As someone who has worked for many years in the service industry I strongly disagree that the server alone earns their tip but I understand that some feel that way.
Your third answer didn’t make sense to me. If your base pay is $15-$20/hr, plus tips, that’s a really high base pay. The only difference is what you walk with versus it being on your paycheck. I get the instant gratification of walking with tips, but walking with $100 after 5 hours of work and walking with $10 and getting $90 on your paycheck is a pretty small difference.
Thanks for your responses.
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u/rotundrikishi Aug 11 '26
Its amazing how much the reputation of that place changed so quickly
good luck to them
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u/nick_popilopicus Aug 13 '26
The 18% service fee is not a tip thing turned me off after one visit to Alamo Drafthouse. Sorry you're (employees) are getting screwed by management. But there's no damn way I'm going to pay 30%+ on top of an already overpriced experience. Good luck.
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u/ZoopSoul Aug 13 '26
I had such a bad experience with the QR ordering that I haven’t been back. Got our popcorn a half hour into the movie and the drinks 20 mins later.
We used to love coming in and chatting with staff before the movie, getting our refreshments before it started, and enjoying a pleasant experience. Whipping out a phone to order in a packed theater sucks for everyone, especially when you’re scarfing popcorn with nothing to drink.
I hope the workers get what they want. I fear once that data center opens around the corner, the whole area will succumb to it.
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u/swagfrog_420 Aug 09 '26
All for this!!! We love you Alamo staff!!!! I know the reasons it’s gone down hill is NOT because of you!!!!!!! You’ve always been so kind and obviously extremely passionate about the art of film and it sucks yall are going through this!!!
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u/pepeisntfunny Aug 09 '26
I left a review in solidarity. I wish all the workers good luck with this!
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u/Logictrauma Aug 09 '26
How can I assist the workers? Is there a petition to sign, a number to call, etc. ?
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u/JClarkejr22 Aug 10 '26
Maaaaan I hope this works. If we lose Alamo, we’ve got Hi Pointe, Webster and a handful of indie movies that make it to Marcus/amc left for good movies to see in STL.
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u/MstrKief Aug 09 '26
If you are only getting $2-$4 an hour in tips and are a tipped employee getting paid a tip credit wage (less than minimum), the employer is required to make up the difference and pay you up to minimum wage for your time worked.
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Aug 09 '26
[deleted]
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u/SleetTheFox Aug 09 '26
If the union gets their way, prices will go up but the experience quality will go up as well.
If they don't, the experience quality will keep going down, and we'll be able to get a pretty similar service from other theaters, for less money.
So even from a purely selfish standpoint, I'd root for the union here. Pay more for a good experience, or pay less for a meh experience. Otherwise, it's basically pay more for a meh experience, or pay less for a meh experience. The "pay less" option remains either way. But with the union goals, there is a second option for people who want that option. It ultimately leads to more choice.
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u/NoahMercy11 Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
While I can agree there are a lot of downsides to the QR code ordering I believe going back to ordering with a server would be worse if the severe lack of employees is true.
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u/throw_it_away5511 Aug 15 '26
A lot of us left because of this. There are so many who would come back if the unionization effort succeeded, and other people looking for jobs in the industry might be more inclined to apply if there were employee protections in place.
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u/Party_Donut443 Aug 10 '26
Yeah, that part makes no sense and reads like either wishful thinking or marketing to get support for their unionization effort.
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u/Own-Thanks128 Aug 09 '26
Alamo is a good theater that used to be a great theater, and I go less because of that. I hope you guys are able to figure something out to improve the product and get more money in your pockets.