On October 7th, Half Price Books workers in Kansas who unionized with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 2 participated in a national day of action with 9 other Half Price Book locations across the country in protest of the company’s failure to offer fair wages in the bargaining process as workers seek their first union contract.
Kate Colwell, a bookseller at the unionizing Overland Park location, said the following: “At the end of the day, it’s workers who make Half Price Books the successful chain that it is. We challenge Half Price Books to live up to their stated value of being a ‘family- owned business that treats people the way they want to be treated’ and treat workers like family by offering us real raises and the union contract we’ve been bargaining for.”
The national day of action comes on the heels of a growing unionization movement at Half Price Books stores in which 10 locations nationwide have voted to unionize with the UFCW, with an 11th location in Missouri filed for a union election earlier this week.
