Workers Force Indie Bookstore To Live Up to Its Values
Wednesday, Jul 9, 2014, 7:13 pm
Workers Force Indie Bookstore To Live Up to Its Values
BY George Joseph
A few blocks away from Columbia University, independent bookstore chain Book Cultures two Morningside Heights locations are often packed with young patrons poring over Feuerbach critical readers or Camus postcards. So many of the companys progressive customers were dismayed when, on June 27, they received a mass email from Book Culture owner Chris Doeblin informing them that several store managers had been fired for voting to unionize, along with one other worker accused of a separate infraction.
It became clear that several of the stores supervisors were not willing to continue to perform the role of supervisors within the new environment of having the unionized workforce, Doeblin wrote. We respect them for their candor, but they could not continue as employees when they were unwilling to perform their jobs most essential functions.
In response to the five firings, the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, the workers prospective union, filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. RWDSU members also picketed outside both stores every day for a week, blowing up inflatable rats and encouraging onlookers to boycott the establishments. On July 2, nearly every worker walked out on a one-day strike.
The next day, Book Culture hired back all four fired supervisory workers and negotiated a compensation package for the fifth, officially retracting its claim that she had been eavesdropping on management conversations.
More:
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/16932/workers_force_indie_bookstore_to_live_up_to_its_values