The Harvard Book Store Union, which has been affiliated with United Auto Workers, Local 1596 since 1993, announced on social media Monday that, after more than three months of negotiations, it has successfully secured a “record contract” between the bookstore’s owners and approximately 30 workers represented by the union.
The new contract includes an immediate increase in starting wages for new employees; a “record raise” for current employees; severance pay for laid off workers; official union recognition at all future locations of the Harvard Book Store; and a 100% increase in dental insurance coverage.
HBS management seems to be as satisfied with the new contract as the workers are. Lisa Jayne, the store's general manager, wrote in an email to PW on Friday that the HBS management team is "pleased with the outcome of our recent negotiations and believe both sides are happy with the resulting contract. It’s an important step forward, especially during challenging times. This agreement demonstrates a shared commitment to the future of Harvard Book Store and to its employees. We’re very excited about what lies ahead."
Despite the name, the Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard Book Store, which was PW’s Bookstore of the Year in 2002, is not affiliated with Harvard University. The store, currently housed in a 5,500 square-foot space in Harvard Square, was founded in 1932 and is currently owned by a group that includes, since 2008, Jeff Mayersohn and Linda Seamonson, along with, since 2021, Linda Henry and John Henry, the owner of the Red Sox and the Boston Globe.
A second HBS location was announced in 2022 that was to be located in a 29,000 square-foot space (formerly a Barnes & Noble) at the Prudential Center in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, but that project was canceled last year due to supply chain disruptions and escalating costs, according to the owners. The store’s unionized workers filed an unfair labor charge with the National Labor Relations Board two months later, alleging that the store’s owners would not bargain with them in good faith and that they also were not being transparent about the costs of the project before it was abandoned.
On April 26, Independent Bookstore Day, employees posted a petition on social media decrying the negative impact of the failed Prudential Center project on store workers. A video that accompanies the petition, which was shared after six weeks of negotiations over a new contract following the lapse of employees’ previous three-year contract, features various HBS workers disclosing their wages, which at the time ranged from $16-$18.75 per hour. Boston's current minimum wage is $15/hour.
The petition alleged that “an indefinite full-time hiring freeze” following the scrapping of the plans for the second HBS location, as well as the resignations of longtime staffers. “Despite the challenges, we have kept the bookstore running and even brought in record sales,” the petition states. “But when we went to the bargaining table, we were offered a raise of $0.00. We have asked to see the budget for the Prudential Center expansion. We have asked how HBS could afford two years of rent on an empty 29,000 square foot retail space, but cannot afford to pay us a living wage.”
This story has been updated with more information.
