UWS Barnes & Noble Workers File For Union Election

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — These workers are trying to author the future of their workplace.

On Tuesday, workers at the Upper West Side Barnes & Noble on Broadway and West 82nd St. filed a petition for a union election — the first step in the unionization process.

The election would cover 49 workers at the store — including booksellers, baristas, cashiers and maintenance workers — according to the filing, and the employees are seeking to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

If successful, the Upper West Side store would be the third New York City Barnes & Noble to unionize, following the recent union campaigns at the flagship Union Square location and at the store's Park Slope outpost.

“I care a lot about my coworkers," said Eve Greenlow, a bookseller at the store. "I want the best for them, just as I want the best for myself. We deserve not to have to worry about affording groceries, we deserve safe levels of staffing, we deserve consistent hours, and we deserve agency over our working conditions."

Specific grievances at the Upper West Side store included "job security, a lack of structure when it comes to job duties and tasks at work, and favoritism by management," according to the RWDSU.

"I love selling books and am deeply passionate about the work I do," Greenlow said. "I truly want a future at Barnes & Noble, but this will unfortunately be impossible with the conditions of the present."

Workers have asked the store to voluntarily recognize the union, which they can do anytime before the National Labor Review Board sets a time for the election.

The RWDSU has been behind several successful union elections at independent booksellers across the city, including McNally Jackson, Goods for the Study, Greenlight Bookstore and Book Culture.

“Our organizing efforts mirror the swell in the labor movement nationwide, adding our voice to the collective force of workers who demand that the standards of their workplace be raised, for the betterment of themselves and those that will come after them," said Lauren Champlin, a bookseller at the Upper West Side store.

"As a Barnes & Noble bookseller, I take immense pride in the role we play in our Upper West Side neighborhood and, as a company, in local communities across the country," Champlin said. "In organizing, I want Barnes & Noble employees to receive the pay, protection, and respect reflective of the care and specialized skills each of us brings to our role."

If the election is successful, the workers and their union will collectively bargain with Barnes & Noble for their first contract.