Cineworld staff members have responded to the company’s bosses’ bonus scheme, calling it “utterly despicable.”

Responding to the news that Cineworld bosses would be set to receive more than £200 million in shares in a recently greenlit incentive scheme (per the Guardian), Cineworld Action Group took to Twitter to condemn the new decision.

• Read more: UK cinema staff react to closures: “The government and studios have left us to rot”

“This is utterly despicable,” the tweet began. “As thousands of Cineworld and Picturehouse staff across the country continue to struggle to afford basic necessities, top Cineworld bosses are set to potentially receive up to £33m each in share awards.”

This is utterly despicable. As thousands of Cineworld and Picturehouse staff across the country continue to struggle to afford basic necessities, top Cineworld bosses are set to potentially receive up to £33m each in share awards. https://t.co/HRLQ52YS48

— Cineworld Action Group (@cineactiongroup) January 25, 2021

All 127 Cineworld sites across the UK and Ireland were closed indefinitely last October, in light of further delays to a number of key film titles due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, including the forthcoming James Bond film No Time To Die.

Speaking to NME, one anonymous staff member from one of London’s Picturehouse branches called the Bond cancellation “the final nail in the coffin.”

“I’m extremely disappointed in [007 studio] MGM as No Time To Die could have saved the cinema industry. It’s what we were all holding out for.

“They could’ve been known as the studio that saved cinemas as opposed to the studio that condemned them.”

Recalling the sudden closures and redundancies, one staff member from Scotland said it was “a real punch in the gut.”

“We were literally given a three-day notice period that our jobs were getting flushed down the gutter. We have had absolutely no communication from our CEO throughout this whole mess.”