November 24, 2004

In November, 2004, two and a half years into an organizing campaign, employees of the Minneapolis Borders voted to approve a contract that they and UFCW 789 had been negotiating with Borders for nearly a year and a half. With the favorable vote, they joined the employees of the Ann Arbor store as the only two Borders stores currently under contract. Ann Arbor employees approved their first contract earlier in the year, after a two month strike.

Previously:

On November 8th, 2003, employees of Borders original store in Ann Arbor, MI, went out on strike.

On December 6, 2002, they had voted resoundingly, 51 to 4, to join United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 876; on October 18, 2002, employees of the Minneapolis Borders also had voted to join another union, UFCW Local 789.

Although Borders likes to tell the press and unwary employees that it has been targeted by the AFL-CIO, the truth is that the Borders union campaign is an employee-driven,  grassroots movement, facilitated in groundbreaking ways by the internet, in which employees have reached out to several different unions on their own initiative.

 Thirteen Borders locations have had union votes, six have approved union representation, five have secured contracts, two stores are presently under contract. More than a dozen other stores have had serious union drives that never reached the voting stage, and dozens of others have had enough union activity to register on Borders union 'radar screen'.

Three stores that approved contracts (in 1997 and 1998) let them expire and those stores are no longer unionized. Enthusiasm for the union was countered by an aggressive anti-union campaign, a lack of wage gains in the contracts, 'open shop' agreements, and a great deal of employee turnover. However, in the wake of the restructuring, those older contracts look pretty good: if the Lincoln Park, Chicago, contract was in place today, that store would still have four lead clerks making a $1.00 premium, separate SPO, inventory, and periodical positions, all making premiums, there would still be set schedules, full-time hours could not be reduced to 35/week and book clerks couldn't be made to work in music or the cafe or vice-versa (that's what they wanted, other people may feel differently).

How it began:

In March 1996, after a long organizing campaign, employees of Borders store #21 in Philadelphia voted against union representation with the Industrial Workers of the World. #21 was the first store to organize, and that drive sparked a number of other drives around the country. Subsequent to the loss, the employee-organizers continued their work, seeking representation by the United Food and Commercial Workers union.

On June 15th, 1996, a bookseller at the Philadelphia store was fired for insubordination. The bookseller, Miriam Fried, was generally recognized as an excellent employee, was given good evaluations by management, and had never been disciplined or given any written or verbal warnings. This, combined with the fact that she was known to management as a union organizer, led to allegations that Ms. Fried was fired for her union activities.

Acting on this belief, branches of the Industrial Workers of the World (the IWW or the 'Wobblies') picketed Borders stores from coast to coast, urging a boycott until Ms. Fried was reinstated or until Borders acknowledged she was wrongly fired. Subsequent to her termination, Ms. Fried filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB ruled against her complaint, citing lack of evidence (the dispute that led to her firing was not witnessed by other employees). Although Borders did not retract Ms. Fried�s firing, the pickets by the IWW resulted in a new policy for employee separation at Borders, and provided an umbrella of protection for other Borders workers seeking to form a union. National attention was also drawn to the union drive.

Meanwhile, Borders, fearing further union activity, hired a notorious anti-labor law firm, Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupman, to advise and conduct its anti-union campaign. Jackson, Lewis is the second most active 'union-busting' law firm in the country, according to the AFL-CIO.

Michael Moore, the producer of the film Roger and Me, host of TV-Nation, and author of the book Downsize This! , announced his support for a union during several book readings he gave at Borders. He donated profits from the sale of his book to the union effort, and made a film--The Big One --of the events that transpired on his book tour, including his meetings with Borders employees. It is currently available on videotape.

The UFCW conducted several union drives and contract negotiations at Borders stores across the country.

In the summer of 1996, a drive started at the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Borders--the original Borders store. The employees filed a petition with the NLRB for an election, but it was not held, after a reversal in employee support.

On Oct. 2, 1996, employees of the Lincoln Park, Chicago store approved the UFCW as their bargaining agent. Negotiations for a contract started on November 19, 1996. In October 1997, employees voted to approve the UFCW negotiated contract. Three years later, the employees allowed the contract to expire. The store is presently without a union.

During the last week of October 1996, the workers at the Borders warehouse in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania petitioned for a union election. The employees voted against union representation in December 1996. Employees filed for election a second time, in November of 1997, and again rejected the UFCW as their bargaining agent in January 1998.

On December 10, 1996 employees of the Des Moines, Iowa, Borders voted to authorize the UFCW as their bargaining agent. They approved their contract in December 1997. That brought of the number of Borders stores under union contract to two. Iowa is a right-to-work state: union membership is optional; that fact, combined with a weak contract, led to the dissolution of the union. The store is currently without a union.

In January 1997, after a divisive anti-union campaign by conducted by Borders, employees of the Stamford, Conn. store voted against a union. After the union loss, many employees left or transferred away from the store. NLRB charges were also filed against Borders by employees who alleged unfair actions by Borders� management.

On February 28th, 1997, employees of the Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Borders voted to authorize the UFCW as their bargaining agent. The UFCW was unable to negotiate a contract that satisfied employees. In March 1998, employees started a petition drive to decertify the union. In June 1998, UFCW Local 1776 filed a disclaimer of interest, ceasing its effort to represent employees of the store.

On June 3, 1997, employees of the Borders in Seattle, Washington, voted against union representation. During the anti-union campaign, store managers resorted to tearful pleas during small group meetings. After the union loss, many employees left, dismayed by the tactics and actions of management.

On June 13, 1997 employees of the Borders in the World Trade Center voted to authorize the UFCW as their bargaining agent. In April 1998, employees voted to approve a contract. Subsequently, employees voted to amend the contract, providing an 'open shop' clause, which undermined the power of the union. A second contract was not negotiated.

In October of 1997, UFCW local 951 in Michigan began a national campaign to pressure Borders executives into signing a fair campaign practices pledge. It picketed Borders Group executive officers� homes and worked with staff of several Borders stores to initiate union drives. Working with Borders pro-union employees, it collected petition signatures of prominent writers. Borders claimed that 'at least one' of the signatures was forged, but never offered any evidence to back its claim. Actually, the petition is authentic, and Local 951 possesses the original signatures. Ultimately, 951 abandoned its attempt to mount a national pressure campaign, due to employee disinterest in the stores it had targeted and financial constraint.

On November 17th, 1997, employees of the Evanston, Illinois Borders, in conjunction with the UFCW, filed a petition with the NLRB, seeking an election to determine union representation. Employees in Evanston subsequently rejected union representation.

In the spring of 2001, employees of two New Jersey Borders stores filed for union elections, seeking representation by the Teamsters. Ultimately, the employees of both stores voted against the union. Supervisors had been excluded from the vote by a government ruling, and that made the difference.

In the spring of 2002, a union drive started at store 397 in Gurnee, IL. That drive sparked union movements at other stores, including Minneapolis and Ann Arbor.