Brixton Bugle July/August 2018

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BRIXTON BUGLE YOUR FREE

No 65 | JULY/AUGUST 2018

Published monthly in and for Brixton

GOOD NEIGHBOURS OF COLDHARBOUR LANE

Louise Barron and Tony Pommell, who have run the 414 Club on Coldharbour Lane since the mid-eighties, have reacted with surprise and indignation to claims by residents of just a few months that the club, a key part of Brixton’s vital nighttime economy, is either a source of noise or cigarette smoke pollution. Above, they stand with their notice for clubbers that predates the complaints and, below, they point to their noise certificate. They have always taken care that late-night visitors, and not only those to their club behave themselves on Coldharbour Lane. Good neighbourliness, suggests Louise, is a two-way thing. Full story page 3

ISSN 2397-852X

RITZY SACKINGS UNFAIR

Union representatives at Brixton’s Ritzy Cinema were unfairly dismissed, an employment tribunal has ruled. Workers at the Ritzy have been campaigning over several years to be paid the London Living Wage and for other employment rights. Its owners, the Picturehouse chain, part of the international Cineworld conglomerate, has steadfastly refused to budge or negotiate. The finding of unfair dismissal applies to two of three Ritzy workers who took their case to the tribunal. The third had been employed for less than two years, was barred from taking a case by current employment law. The three members of the tribunal agreed unanimously that the sackings had been unfair but, by a majority, decided that they were not automatically unfair due to victimisation for trade union activity.

Gerry Morrissey, head of the Ritzy workers’ trade union BECTU, said: “The judgement is clear that Picturehouse management showed a lack of neutrality and assumed the guilt of our representatives. “We are very disappointed, however, by the tribunal’s finding that our representatives’ trade union activity was not central to Picturehouse’s decision to dismiss. “We find this hard to accept given the leading role which Ritzy representatives have played in our long-running dispute with the company. We believe that the company took advantage of the circumstances to dismiss BECTU activists.” The sackings were ostensibly over an email in which the representatives said: “we are also going to have to start

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COMMUNITY PAPER

IT’S THE COUNTRY SHOW! Slides and ideas

MAGNIFICENT MIGUEL’S Gym does so well

SMOKE AND CARS Student stunt pays off

Sacked union reps (l-r) Tom McKain, Marc Cowan and Natalie Parsons outside the Ritzy in Brixton

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FROM STORE TO STAR Prize for Department Store

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