Burns and Noble Workers from three Big Apple stores that first became the United States to do so on Thursday, according to the union representing them.
After a two-year battle of organizing, roughly 200 salespeople, barista, maintenance and other workers signed three-year contracts at the Union Square flagship in Manhattan, the Upper West Side location on West 82nd Avenue and the Brooklyn store in Park Slope.
Currently, the retail, wholesale and department store unions represent three of the five NYC stores. They also organize four other than New York.
A protest was held Last year, at a location in Union SquareIt also functions as a headquarters.
Private Barnes & Noble, which operates around 600 stores nationwide, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“When we started organizing, we were earning minimum wages in unacceptable working conditions,” according to a statement from Aaron Lascano, a senior bookstore working at the Union Square location. “Now we look forward to ultimately ensuring pay raises, excellent union healthcare coverage, protection from layoffs and protection from store closures.”
Each store has a separate agreement, but the salary and many profits are the same.
According to RWDSU, wages will increase from a minimum of $23 to $25 an hour for new hires, depending on the position, by the end of the contract.
According to RWDSU spokesperson Chelsea Connor, some roles, including experts from the cafe team who make specialists, may pay as much as $29 an hour.
Workers' salaries increased by $4 per hour to around $20, during organisation that was opposed by managers, Connor added.
Other benefits include worker safety issues beyond the New York Retail Workers Safety Act, which came into effect on March 3rd.
The RWSA only requires employers to provide panic buttons and two training sessions on how to handle unruly customers. The buttons allow workers to reach the 911 responder on the device they wear or mobile device.
Barnes & Noble workers will gain new break rooms and work safety once the store closes or moves.
Two unorganized stores in the city are located at 555 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and 194 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.
According to RWDSU, four stores outside of New York are also organised, with one in Bloomington, Illinois, poised to ratify the contract on Saturday.
James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble, who operated the UK-based Waterstonesbook chain before running B&N in 2019, led a growing number of stores and improved and modernised growth strategies.
The 128-year-old chain was in a free fall.
“For at least 10 years, both revenue and profits have been declining over the long term,” Daunt told the Post in 2021.
The company, previously led by late retailer Len Riggio, was privately hired in 2019 on a $683 million contract by Elliott Management, an activist hedge fund led by billionaire Paul Singer.
