Photo Saturday by Stacie Joy
After a three-day strike, management at the Strand Book Store has reached a tentative contract with its 80-plus union staff, who are represented by the UAW Local 2179.
The employees returned to work yesterday. According to @strandbooksellers: "Later this week, we will vote to decide whether or not to ratify the contract and formally end the strike."
Will Bobrowski, Local 2179's second vice president and a former Strand employee, told Publishers Weekly that if the contract is ratified, it will last through Aug. 31, 2028.
More details:
Among the changes to the contract, Bobrowski told PW, are an increase to the store’s per-hour hiring rate, which will now be $0.50 above New York State minimum wage and a $1.50/hour raise in an employee's fourth year, amounting to a roughly 37% wage increase over four years for Strand workers who begin at the base salary. (The minimum wage in New York will increase by another $0.50 on January 1, 2026, and on Jan. 1, 2027, the state's rate will be tied to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, taking inflation into account in the establishment of a minimum.)
Striking workers were from the flagship Broadway and 12th Street store, the Upper West Side outpost, and the Brooklyn warehouse. This marked the first strike at the Strand since the early 1990s.
During the strike, the store was reportedly maintained by a skeleton crew that included store managers, part-time non-union workers and other non-union administrative staff.
1 comment:
So from my looking up the minimum NYC wage, these workers will get ($16 + $.50) $16.50 to start.
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