Unionizing The Chicago Literary Scene
One Union After Another
Have you ever introduced one of your closest friends to another and they hit it off instantly? That’s how I feel right now as my two faves have finally started to unite, literature and labor unions.
Long time readers may know about my own experience a while back trying to organize the bookstore and while it was unsuccessful, I’m proud to say that many others have succeeded where I couldn’t.
Literary workers across Chicago, from publishers to booksellers, have started to organize and fight back. Workers are no longer willing to accept the bare minimum because frankly, the bare minimum ain’t enough to survive.
A few days ago, workers at the University of Chicago Press (UCP Workers Guild) announced their plans to unionize. Originally reported at Publishers Weekly, the union will be the first in the company’s 130 year history. They will join workers at Oxford University Press and Duke University Press and use their collective power to build a more equitable workplace for academic press employees. This means fair compensation, transparency, and protections against generative AI.
Weeks ago, workers at the American Library Association (headquartered in Chicago) voted to unionize after employees were forced to endure multiple rounds of layoffs. In their public letter, they announced their intent to fight for higher wages, benefits, and job security. The Chicago Reader has done extensive reporting about the ALA’s rollback of workplace benefits and the increased pressure that workers are under to “do more with less”.
Right now Chicago has two bookstores that are officially unionized, both The Book Cellar Workers Union, in Lincoln Square and the Seminary Co-op Booksellers Union in Hyde Park. So next time you want to support indie bookstores and their workers, you know where to shop. Both of these unions have only sprung up in the past couple years, although I’m confident there more are coming.
Fascists often attack cultural instutitions first, because artists, journalists, and cultural workers are destabilizing forces for authoritarian regimes. Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci wrote about this idea that the ruling class seizes power not through batons or bullets, but through defining our beliefs and values in what is known as cultural hegemony.
If we want to have a more equitable and just society, then we must uplift and support the many workers and institutions on the front-lines of this fight, because if we lose the arts and literature, then we may just lose everything else that we care about.
Actions you can take right now:
The Book Cellar Workers Union has a community support form you can sign here to stay updated on their movement.
UCP Workers Guild has a petition going on and needs a few hundred more signatures before they meet their goal. Please consider signing on if you can.
If you want to learn more or support any of the unions mentioned, check out the links below.