Staff at the Ritzy Picturehouse cinema in Brixton, London, have been fighting a long and difficult campaign to be paid a living wage.

Dear Peter, Can you help support an important campaign for decent wages in the increasingly low paid and casualised entertainment sector? Staff at the Ritzy Picturehouse cinema in Brixton, London, have been fighting a long and difficult campaign to be paid a living wage. They've faced strong opposition from management and the threat of redundancies, but by standing strong with their union BECTU, they've managed to strike a deal that has seen their base rate of pay rise significantly to £8.20 an hour. However, this pay rise will only go to staff at the Brixton branch of the Picturehouse chain, not to staff at the other 21 Picturehouses around the country. BECTU are stepping up the campaign for all Picturehouse employees, from Exeter to Edinburgh, to receive a fairer wage for their work. Please help: Sign BECTU's petition The people who work for Picturehouse Cinemas across the country love their jobs, they love cinema, and they love helping to bring great films to the public. What they don’t love is the poverty wages they are paid. The company argue they can't afford pay increases. Yet their operating profits last year rose by 31% to £1.3 million, and their parent company, mulitnational cinema group Cineworld, made even healthier profits of £31 million in 2013. Other independent cinemas can do it - Curzon Cinemas now pay the Living Wage at all their cinemas across the UK. There's clearly room for Picturehouses to treat their dedicated staff with more respect. Although BECTU have members at many Picturehouse cinemas, the company won't talk to them about recognising the union or pay. One thing that helped change the company's mind in Brixton was pressure from their customers, who did not want to see staff at their local cinema exploited. We're running a petition in partnership with BECTU. Can you sign it, and help show Picturehouse just how many of their potential customers nationwide believe they can and should pay their staff a living wage. Sign the petition now Thanks for all your help, John and the Going To Work team