Eleven booksellers and baristas at the Barnes & Noble in Hadley, MA voted unanimously to unionize on Thursday. They will join United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459 and move on to negotiating a contract with management. This marks the first union at a Barnes & Noble retail store. In April, the workers sent a letter to B&N ceo James Daunt, citing low pay, inconsistent schedules, lack of communication from management, and lack of accessibility in the store. Separately, approximately 30 employees at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Park Slope notified management of their intention to unionize and join the Retail, Wholesale […]
Unions
Rutgers BNED Employees Win Union Vote
Workers at the Barnes & Noble College store at Rutgers University in New Jersey voted unanimously to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). The union represents approximately 70 booksellers, baristas, cashiers, and non-supervisory employees. The union now moves to negotiate a contract with management, planning to address, “continued safety issues amid the rebound of the pandemic including workplace harassment, substandard pay for the industry below that of independent booksellers, unstable scheduling practices, a lack of structure when it comes to job duties and tasks at work, and favoritism by management.”
Workers at B&N Union Square Announce Union
Workers at Barnes & Noble’s Union Square flagship store–the same New York building where the corporate offices are located–announced plans to unionize. They have filed for election with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which also represents workers at McNally Jackson, Book Culture, and Greenlight Bookstore. According to the union, the majority of employees signed union authorization cards, and on April 28 they announced their plans at the store and asked for voluntary recognition from management, which has not yet responded. A release from RWDSU states, “Workers at the store face continued safety issues amid the rebound of […]
Workers at B&N in Hadley, MA Announce Union Effort
Workers at Barnes & Noble in Hadley, MA have announced their intention to unionize, becoming the chain’s first location to do so. (The story reporting on the union is a little confused; workers at Rutgers University outlet of Barnes & Noble College, a completely separate company, also announced a union effort by their 70 employees recently). The Hadley union would represent 18 workers, including booksellers and baristas. The Shoestring reports, “They are organizing with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459 around a handful of key issues, from low pay and inadequate hours to a lack of accessibility inside the […]
Employees at Barnes & Noble Education’s Rutgers Location Look to Become Chain’s First Union Store
Employees at a Barnes & Noble Education store on the campus of Rutgers University are petitioning to become the first unionized outlet among the chain’s 785 stores. Bloomberg reports that worker says most of the approximately 70 employees at the Rutgers store have signed on. Last Thursday that filed with the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election on unionizing. The group wants to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The workers who spoke to Bloomberg indicated they seek better pay, job security and more stable work hour.
Harper Union Ratifies Contract; Will Return to Work Feb 21
Today the Harper Collins employee union ratified the tentative deal reached by management and union representatives last week. Striking staff will return to work on February 21. The new contract, which will be in effect through 2025, sets a minimum salary of $47,500 — meeting Macmillan and Hachette Book Group’s recently-increased base pay — which will then increase to $48,500 in 2024 and $50,000 in 2025. Bargaining unit employees will also receive one lump sum payment of $1,500, and “guaranteed annual increases for everyone rated above ‘unsatisfactory’.” The company remains an open shop but with strengthened union protections, including additional […]