Two Tucson nonprofits have officially unionized after a year-and-a-half long process, giving employees new workplace protections.
Workers at The Loft Cinema and Arizona Theater Company, both cornerstones of the local art community, are now being represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or IATSE.
Employees of the newly unionized Loft Cinema stand outside the theater after the National Labor Relations Board election on Aug. 28.
The Loft Cinema
The Loft Cinema officially unionized on Aug. 28 after reaching a contract agreement some 18 months after the process first started.
“We genuinely couldn’t have done this without the love and support from our patrons,” Loft employee and union member Victor Bestick said in an IATSE news release.
The Loft, open since 1972, is the longest continuously operating movie theater in Tucson and is best known for showing a mix of pop culture and independent films.
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Victor Bostick and Ana Quinones plate food at The Loft Cinema.
Theater employees started discussing a union in late 2024, and union-eligible workers voted unanimously to be represented by the IATSE in spring 2025.
Union representatives, employees and members of The Loft’s management team went through 21 collective bargaining sessions over more than a year before reaching an agreement in August.
Elise Lopez, the theater’s new executive director, said the unionization process can commonly take around 18 months because the final collective bargaining agreement is a legally binding document.
The new agreement includes increased wages, updated overtime conditions, paid breaks, guaranteed weekly hours, increased sick and vacation time and rightful cause for termination, she said.
Most of the benefits were already offered by The Loft prior to the agreement, Lopez said, but the contract makes those protections more permanent.
Eric Grundseth waves at the camera while working the popcorn machine at The Loft Cinema.
“What it means is that, now that this is a legally binding document, it’s something that’s going to be there in perpetuity for staff,” she said.
All employees, not just those who join the union, are covered by the agreement.
The Loft currently employs around 30 people.
“We haven’t received a final list of exactly how many staff are formally going to join the union,” she said. “But there were 20 staff who voted on the collective bargaining agreement.”
Supervisors and managers are not eligible, she added.
Lopez was hired as The Loft’s executive director several months ago while bargaining negotiations were already in motion. She said joining the process gave her an opportunity to learn about the employees and what they wanted from the workplace.
“The best thing you can do as a leader is listen,” she said. “You may not be able to solve everybody’s problems immediately, but you don’t know what you don’t know as a leader.”
While the agreement is still fresh, she said the atmosphere at The Loft has been positive.
“We want to have a culture where people feel protected, heard,” she said. “I think people are feeling heard and seen and valued, and that’s what we want.”
Arizona Theatre Company
Just days after The Loft, employees at the Arizona Theater Company officially unionized on Aug. 31.
The theater company’s employees, also represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage, started the unionization process in January 2025 and voted unanimously to be represented by the union in mid-May.
“The whole company will benefit from our renewed spirit of cooperation, mutual encouragement and celebration,” Allison Gammons, an Arizona Theater Company employee and union member, was quoted as saying in a news release.
The Arizona Theatre Company agreement will increase healthcare coverage and also includes wage increases, paid breaks, guaranteed hours and days off, and new overtime conditions.
The union will represent 20 full-time theater production employees, including carpenters, painters, lighting, video and audio technicians, costumers, hair and makeup technicians and workers in other theatrical crafts.
ATC leadership, Matt August, artistic director, and Ana Rose O’Halloran, executive director, expressed support for the agreement and the team’s efforts, according to the news release.
“Our production staff’s commitment to the long-term sustainability of Arizona Theatre Company was clear at every step,” they said in a statement.
The Arizona Theatre Company, opened in 1967, is the state’s official and only professional regional theater under the League of Resident Theatres.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
