The workers of Nitehawk Cinema in Park Slope, Brooklyn unionized with UAW Local 2179 in March of 2024. We first began contract negotiations in August of 2024. And as we enter into 2026, we still do not have our first contract. Matthew Viragh, founder and majority owner of Nitehawk, has made his intentions clear since the start. He did not want the union, and has done everything in his power since the initial vote to get rid of us.

Multiple union-busting emails and notices, targeted discipline and firings of union organizers and supporters, delaying and prolonging of contract negotiations in order to allow for a de-certification vote to take place, for which he so helpfully provided the necessary links and forms needed in order to do so. The veneer of so called progressiveness is wiped away once unions are brought into the conversation.

As we enter this new year, we are asking for public appeals from you, our customers and supporters, to say that you support a unionized Nitehawk! Please sign our petition, as we continue our struggle for our first contract, for a safe and respectful workplace, and against union-busting and fear tactics. Your support is everything to us, and we couldn’t do this without you.

Solidarity forever,

The Nitehawk Workers Union

UAW Local 2179 - Region 9a