LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Employees at a national discount book and media retailer in east Louisville have voted to become a union.
According to a press release, workers at the Half Price Books on Hurstbourne Parkway won their union election on Sept. 23.
The UFCW Local 227 said on Facebook that workers will now head to the bargaining table to negotiate a union contract.
"I wanted a union for my co-workers and myself to have a say in the business we work so hard for every day," HPB bookseller Mary Condon said. "We deserve a seat at the table, and a place for our ideas not only to be heard, but for us to negotiate their implementation."
Employees began unionizing in June of this year and filed paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board to have a union election in late August, the UFCW Local 227 said.
Grant Cottingham, a bookseller at HPB, says while employees' workload has continued to increase, staffing and pay remains stagnant.
"No relationship lasts without mutual accountability," Cally Hazard, a HPB bookseller, said. "I organized my union at my store because I love my job and I'm committed to making it more sustainable for us."
Newly unionized Half Price Books employees plan to schedule dates with company leaders to begin negotiating their first union contract soon.
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