The Campaign to Bust Chicago’s Only Bookstore Union  ## Metadata - Author: [[It Could Happen Here]] - Full Title: The Campaign to Bust Chicago’s Only Bookstore Union - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/e09b175c-8c4e-4755-917b-b94afb255e82 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **Not-For Masking Real Financial Control** - The Seminary Co-op is a “not-for” bookstore that abandoned true cooperative ownership and operates with opaque finances. - That structure lets management obscure spending and justify low wages while claiming scarcity. Transcript: Mia Wong Welcome to It Could Out Here, a podcast where union good and not everything that is called co-op is good. Sometimes they're not actually really co-ops um i am your host mia wong and today we are joined by the people struggling under the tyrannical fist of a co-op a thing that shouldn't be Possible and yet somehow um yeah yeah so we are we're talking today with Ez and Finley, who are booksellers at the Seminary Co-op in Chicago. And yeah, we are welcoming the union back to the show. Finnly And dear God, what a disaster. What a year it has been. Ez Well, it's really great to be found. I wish we were back with slightly better news or more movement since we were last here, certainly. Yeah. Because when we last spoke, we had just sort of theatrically announced to our management that we were an organized shop with the IWW and we were going to be bargaining with them for better Wages and humane working conditions for us all. And they were like, yeah, you're a union. We so recognize that. And then they have sat on their hands ever since. Mia Wong Yeah. So let's roll back all the way to the beginning ([Time 0:02:20](https://share.snipd.com/snip/97c89406-79da-482d-a83c-60d947576662)) - **Attrition As A Union-Busting Tactic** - Management uses attrition and understaffing to weaken worker power and increase burnout. - They intentionally avoid hiring to shrink the bargaining unit and reduce leverage. Transcript: Ez Our management is so infuriating. And they also, in the years since we've been bargaining, had an interim director and spent most of his tenure searching for an executive director to take over. That person is being paid $160,000 a year, to our knowledge. Jesus Christ. And that's the offer that we know of. We have yet to get his contract, even though we did make a formal information request for it. Yeah. Mia Wong Which is fucked. And it's also like, yeah, like every time these companies are like, oh, we don't have money. And it's like, OK, I can find like an unbelievable amount of money that you have given to someone to like to give a random, nonspecific example that has nothing to do with with with any Company that is in any way related to this show. Ez Alive or dead. Mia Wong Buy a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT. Finnly This is like they spent $300 on Google Home Speakers for 57th Street Books. And I'm like, wow, my having that $300 would change my life. But also, like, you're paying that union-busting lawyer thousands of dollars that you could be paying workers. Yep. But that's capitalism. Mia Wong Yeah, they have enough money to make your lives miserable, but they apparently never have enough money to, you know, like make your lives not miserable because they have to spend that Money on making your lives miserable. Finnly Yeah. Ez And it's so intentional because making us miserable means that they are wearing down the number of people that they have to deal with and making the people who are left so tired and so Frustrated and so much less capable of fighting them yeah and that feels like just um you know finn's leaving we've also ([Time 0:10:13](https://share.snipd.com/snip/78390bb2-adca-40fa-939f-d79b71c9b574)) - **Sustain Pressure With Visible Direct Action** - Keep up visible direct actions like work stoppages and pickets to sustain solidarity during stalled bargaining. - Use noisy, public tactics to remind community members the store hasn't improved wages or conditions. Transcript: Finnly We've done, I think, two since you last spoke, like a couple of work stoppages and then picketed outside of our store as well. But that, I don't know, in terms of like sort of regressive bargaining to attrition that we're seeing and that they refuse to hire other people even though they're kind of shooting themselves In the foot but just like our our direct action has i think worked against what they're thinking which is that we're tired and that we're not going to fight back and that we are overwhelmed Um and we don't know what we're doing um but there are a lot of folks who do have you know experience with these sort of direct actions like a word stoppage um i think it's like it's great That we're wobblies but also like i i do kind of like on the work stoppage how flustered and ups not like upset but just how flustered and yeah just awkward management feels it's it's empowering Ez For me um yeah but it's very much on purpose well and i think that's one of the benefits to just like a campaign in the broad sense of continuing direct actions during negotiations is it Is that chance to connect with your coworkers and re-solidify that you're fighting for something intentional in the face of the fact that you will probably start being scheduled more Sparsely. You will have fewer opportunities during the workday to talk to people. And like, that's just stuff that's going to happen while negotiations go on. But like, making sure that you stay in touch with your union as best you can and like show up for all the direct things that you can helps ([Time 0:14:27](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c5b9e326-2f88-4839-a3b9-f1e44f9d10f6)) - **Regressive Bargaining To Stall Agreement** - Management demanded the union draft the first CBA and later cut the negotiated year three wage improvements. - They used unilateral contract reversals as regressive bargaining to stall the deal. Transcript: Ez But then what that ended up being, as meetings went on and on, was them asking us constantly, like, but what is it that you guys really are like prioritizing like what is the thing that Matters the most to you that like you have the least give on and we're like it's wages you know it's wages it's been wages this whole time and they're like but like what if we were like asking You to give up all your benefits to get wages that you want and we were like, okay, that's not how negotiating works. And then in an email that labeled it their best and final offer, which is language that they have yet to take back, they sent us a version of the contract bargaining agreement that we, A, let me just back up for a second. When we first started negotiating, they asked us to draft the entire first draft of the collective bargaining agreement ourselves. What? Which is incredibly non-standard. And we were like, that's fine because that gives us a leg up in terms of like studying the initial terms. I guess we'll do it. But like, yeah, incredibly non-standard, super stupid. Not a thing that we should have had to do. Mia Wong Yeah. I've never heard of that before. Ez But so when we drafted it, we drafted a three-year term collective bargaining agreement with a bunch of stuff about procedure and wages and benefits that we wanted done. And so zooming back forward to that best and final offer, suddenly the draft that they've sent us back of the collective bargaining agreement is a two-year term and up to this point all Of the offers that had gotten anything close to our ask on wages were in year three and everything in year one and two was still like 25 cents 50 cents increases and so suddenly year three Which was always the only year that made any improvements for us is gone and you did not improve any other parts of the contract to make up for that unilateral decision so that's just regressive Mia Wong Bargaining yeah it is it is which by the way okay do you want to explain to our dear listeners what regressive bargaining is and why you're not allowed to do it. Ez Yeah. ([Time 0:28:38](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4fecb0eb-3bf1-453c-8eee-e67620ba3475)) - **Picketing Led To Managerial Threats** - During a work stoppage, staff were reprimanded for using loud music and PA despite peaceful protest. - Management followed up with emails threatening consequences for similar future actions. Transcript: Finnly It's the cost of business. Yeah. It is just the continuous nonstop onslaught of regressive bargaining tactics that like, from the minute we started, despite the fact that like I was sitting next to the director, when We said we're unionizing, it was like a split second before she said, yep, we recognize it. And so our direct action at the work stoppage, I remember our first work stoppage, we sat for half an hour. Management was very cool with that. The second time we did it, we did it for an hour. We should have done our homework better because we didn't know that you can't like distribute like leaflet on store property because you chicago is our landlord i'm kind of like that Store property um but i i put on my clerical collar i put on a t-shirt that had like give unto caesar what is caesar's and also like a little footnote about you know, run me my money, you know, There's a more obvious instruction from Jesus out of Luke that's like, pay the worker their wages. But I was wearing my clerical, I set up the PA and I, and I was loud. There was a Hyde Park Herald reporter who, you know, took my comment who I remember him walking over to Nain and I think asking her for her comment. I had a Bluetooth speaker that was Dan's right. Um, playing never, never fight a man with a perm by idols. And I will not forget, I will not forget the way our, the deputy director approached me. She was like, okay, this is fine. This is all fine. I just want to let you know, this is fine, but can you please turn the music off? Um, and it took me about 20 minutes to just turn the buttons down slowly, but, um like that we we were reprimanded yeah we got a very very email the next day illustrating what the consequences Would be if we tried to do a similar action again in that manner and so we picketed outside their store that was the next direct action that we did but like i do think our most impactful direct Actions have been the ones that have been noisy and And that have been incredibly visible. ([Time 0:33:42](https://share.snipd.com/snip/93d6074b-6603-4ef6-9180-991da1eb2e69)) - **Board Ambiguity Hides Decision Making** - The board's donor-driven involvement creates blurred accountability between governance and daily management. - That ambiguity lets the board avoid direct disclosure while still influencing decisions like hiring a union-busting lawyer. Transcript: Mia Wong Yeah. Who could possibly have written about this? Checks, looks at the books that were written by the members of the board. Yeah. I'm so mad about this. Will Nicky after Empire is really good. It is. Finnly Yeah. I don't know how much I can hold those individual board members responsible when it seems like so many of them are just now finding out about it. Yeah. That's some abuse. One-on is to make sure that the person that you are exploiting, um, that you are, you know, taking advantage of that. They don't feel like they can say to people who could help them. This is what's happening to me. And that like the people who would be sympathetic could, you know, go and take the initiative to help folks. And I'm grateful that we have a meeting with Robert Peters coming up soon. It was supposed to happen that has not yet. Ez And I appreciate how dedicated he is and his staff is to making sure that our union sits down and talks with him. But it is also like there's a deep irony for him accepting an award from another union and rescheduling a meeting with ours to do it. Finnly No, no, no, no, no. It's because we have Jacob. I always say it incorrectly. Ask me. Ask me, yeah. Yeah, the big one. But that's also like part of the other great community support. ([Time 0:41:24](https://share.snipd.com/snip/055a9fc8-4bbf-43f2-9e35-123fe0136e06)) - **Local Wins Spark Wider Momentum** - Winning one local union campaign energizes adjacent campaigns and builds citywide solidarity. - The Seminary Co-op aims to leverage other Chicago wins to sustain momentum and ally support. Transcript: Mia Wong Yeah. Yeah. Ez Well, and I think that we're trying to capitalize on that and trying to make sure that we can be the next person to capitalize on GSU's win and help MSI do the same. But as much as we have really suffered from the at-the bargaining negotiating process and been really sort of beaten down in the past year on that battleground, I think we have learned So much about the allies that surround us and the people who want to do more than just email our board members. And we're like, we don't know what else you can do because we don't know who makes these decisions for you to yell at. But we have so many people who have like signed up for an email list with us. So many people who are like ready to go as soon as we figure out what we need them to do. ([Time 0:51:46](https://share.snipd.com/snip/a35d59fb-1ea7-4d25-b82a-72b0ffa48ff4)) - **Employees Suffer From Mold And Poor Air** - Staff report coughing and breathing issues from visible mold and duct problems in the 57th Street location. - Management downplays remediation and staff fear workplace poisoning without adequate care. Transcript: Finnly Is chicago is a motherfucking union town. And that's what, yeah, I'll admit I'm angry when I go into work, they don't care enough to get the mold and the dust remediated, you know, and the ducks and I can't really breathe when I Go into work. And I also don't have health insurance. Right. Oh my God. Well, I do have health insurance, but I have to pay for like, you know, I have to pay for my own premiums for a marketplace thing. Um, and that's, that's not really affordable. And, um, like as, as, as frustrated as I am, like coming into work, it is, it's the people, you know? And I think that's for a lot of folks who have stayed at the bookstore. I don't know how much you relate to this then. Like it has been like other booksellers, the folks that we've gotten to know through the community who like, who do make a difference, at least for me and whether or not I stay. Oh, absolutely. Ez Yeah. This is a good fight. The union crew that we have is a incredibly worthwhile team to be on. It is a group of people that I feel very solid standing shoulder to shoulder with i think that is like without question one of the things that like keeps the stores a place that you can work Even if it's not a good place to work right now oh yeah yeah and honestly i think that would have sustained me a lot longer if my commute were different you know yeah yeah for sure wait okay Mia Wong Sorry can we pull back to the part where you can't breathe because there's i feel like because there's mold because i feel like you just dropped that very quickly it was like oh yeah that's Ez Like a normal part of the work what the well so for a very long time you've been allowed to request that you only work at the co-op because there is a known mold problem at 57th street that They can't afford to or can't get the landlord to ameliorate um but there is also at least in our lung experience um some sort of growth issue in the venting at the seminary co-op yeah ([Time 0:53:00](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2090bced-3b58-4719-a874-8f776103143a)) - **Concrete Ways To Support The Union** - Sign the petition, follow the union on Instagram, and email board members demanding financial transparency and firing the union-busting lawyer. - Show up to talk to booksellers and join public actions to amplify pressure. Transcript: Mia Wong And do you have places where people can find more information about the campaign and follow updates? Finnly We have a change.org petition that I think if you can link it somewhere in the description. Mia Wong Yeah, we will link it in the description. Finnly Yeah. So that does ask folks to sign off in support of the termination of Jenny Goltz, their union busting lawyer, as well as releasing the full slate of financial information, too. So there's a change.org petition. You can also follow us on Instagram at SunCoop Booksellers Union. We've got the little icon with the sabo cat. Sign the petition. There are also some action items on some of the posts, such as emailing the board and management about the release of financial information and also the termination of Jenny Goltz's Employment. You can also email those emails on that post about the mold too, if you want me to breathe at work. Mia Wong Yeah, I'm so mad about this. Ez I am going to leave the description with their poisoning you because like, I'm so angry about thank you i'm too tired to be angry about it i'm so glad this one with a french perspective Has remembered that the mold is totally bogus because i had forgotten it's it's crazy yeah it's so bogus it's also like it's in such plain sight like if you're in 57th street Books and Finnly You look to the right of the air conditioning unit and room one, you would see that shit growing on the wall. It's wild. And it's like, but I also feel like if I talk to management, which I tried about this, it just is not a priority. My breathing is not a priority. Yeah, it is wild. Thank you for reminding me that. Mia Wong Someone, one day when you win, someone's going to write a paper about necropolitics and this or something. Like, good Lord. Jeez. Finnly Yeah, some shit. But yeah, sign the petition. Follow us on Instagram. Help us make a ruckus. And come talk to us ([Time 1:02:48](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2b830fa5-0c2e-412b-afff-5245019c78c7))