Park Slope Barnes & Noble Moves Toward Union

PARK SLOPE, NY — Workers at a Park Slope Barnes & Noble on Thursday took a major step in their unionizing efforts as they joined their Union Square and New Jersey neighbors' search for bargaining power.

The Seventh Avenue bookstore's workers sent a petition Thursday to the National Labor Relations Board.

Their union drive comes days after a Barnes & Noble location on Rutgers University won their union election and an election looms for the book giant's Manhattan's Union Square location, union organizers said.

Workers say a union would help them secure protection from harassment, reasonable pay, stable work schedules and structure, according to Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which would represent the Barnes & Noble union.

"I have been working at this store for over a year and I constantly see how our low wages affect me and my co-workers in what I can choose to afford each week whether it’s food, a MetroCard or time spent with friends," Senior Bookseller Haruka Iwasaki said in a statement. "There is an unfair balance in how much I am working and how much we are getting paid."

The location has 32 workers, and a union would include non-supervisory employees — but not guards, clerical employees or managers, according to the NLRB.

"I want all of us to experience full-time benefits like health insurance if we work full-time hours," Iwasaki said.

Workers also notified Barnes & Noble of their efforts, according to RWDSU.

If the employers don't choose to recognize the union, the NLRB would likely grant the workers an election that would require just over 50 percent of workers to vote in support.

The workers could have a union election as early as next month, organizers said.

Some 70 Barnes & Noble employees at Rutgers University are now represented by RWDSU, and the Union Square vote June 7 could add another 100 at the chain's flagship location.