Odeon's 2.5% pay rise accepted

A pay claim for cinema technicians has been settled by a 2.5% offer.

The offer, which covers technical staff working for Odeon, including ex-ABC technicians, has been accepted by a meeting of representatives from the company's cinemas.

BECTU's Odeon/ABC sub-divisional committee voted to approve the 2.5% increase from January 2002 without a ballot of members.

Negotiators had submitted a demand for an increase equal to the Retail Price Index plus 1%, and believed that the offer represented a significant rise over the inflation rate.

Staff who previously worked for ABC cinemas, which was taken over by Odeon in June this year, will receive only half the rise, 1.25%, after being "red circled" because their pay rates were higher than Odeon's