Boots Riley – and a DC union -- help Salt Lake Film Society staff unionize

“I recently went through the same organizing process that you are now enduring,” IATSE Local 868 member Jeffrey Higgins told front-of-house workers at the Salt Lake Film Society who wanted to organize a union. “But I can tell you with certainty that it is worth it, every bit of it. You are giving yourselves, and those who work with you in the future, a voice, something each and every one of us deserves in our work. So keep it up, and good luck with the election!” Local 868 Treasurers and Ticketsellers, a union of front-of-house workers at live event theaters in Washington, DC also sent a letter and video message of support for the Salt Lake Film Society crew. The Salt Lake Film Society workers were inspired by the pro-union message in Boots Riley’s 2018 film "Sorry To Bother You," and Boots himself sent a message of solidarity to the workers, who voted overwhelmingly in April to unionize. The staff there is now about to start negotiating their first contract.
- adapted from a report in Medium