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Borders to Close MPLS Union Store

Thu, 04/06/2006 - 00:51 — Warsaw

Today Borders decided to close one of its two union stores. Borders will be shutting down its Uptown Minneapolis store this coming June.

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Thu, 04/06/2006 - 20:23 — abbath

Typical of this piece of crap company.
I hope their stock continues to fall.

Fri, 04/07/2006 - 00:14 — office monkey
office monkey's picture

And will they bother to make sure the employees are relocated like they promise to do with any other store they close.

BASTARDS!!!!!

Fri, 04/07/2006 - 01:30 — redandblack

can any one from from mpls expand on this?!!!

Fri, 04/07/2006 - 03:52 — Warsaw

i posted the initial thread after hearing this news from friends back in Minneapolis. i worked at store #27, was on the negotiation committee and organizing commitee, but havent any other information other from what the local 789 has told me and what i have heard from those who were active, but who have since left the store.
not sure if any of the workers from #27 are active on this site (or in the labor movement generally).
so, in short, id email the org department at the UFCW local 789 to get an "official" statement.
my hope is that some of the management in store #27 will get to share the unemployment line with the workers there.

Tue, 04/11/2006 - 17:57 — e50e

People on this board are more concerned with being able to wear sandals in the store or about the customer's right to hit on women while shopping than about the closing of a union shop.

Wed, 04/12/2006 - 18:32 — Erica

Of course the closing of one of only two union shops is a real concern, and of a political and personal importance to me (I do believe Borders can only be a better place to work for were a union generally in place).

However, the complaints about a customer's 'right' to hit on women or not being allowed (sic. not able) to wear sandals in the store are exactly the sort of concerns that unions are concerned with!

Therefore, as you quite properly lament the closing of a union governed store I continue to concern myself with what were traditionally union concerns. As an employee of the store, working there 5 days a week full time, it is far more imperative that I address sexual harassment and health (As a female I often feel threatened by the regular creeps, and I am not comfortably able to wear some footwear) than I do the closing of a store already aligned to union concerns.

If that means people aren't posting so much to this thread I am genuinely sorry, but surely you see that the lack of a union is what keeps me and others like myself more focused on personal issues?

Basically, I see that you must be happy with what shoes you are allowed to wear and that no weirdo has been making you feel disgustingly uncomfortable.

If I am wrong in that conclusion, please engage in a discussion with me.

Thu, 04/13/2006 - 04:51 — e50e

The comment about the customer hitting on female customers was kind of written out of context--excuse me. Some complete idiot or comedian (I can't even bring myself to believe it is real) posts about being kicked out of the store for hitting on women but more people became engaged in his totally offbeat and off topic ranting than actually focusing on what are important issues to bordersunion.org.

So anyway, there is a fine line between "union concerns" coming from a store already "aligned" with a union and what each and every other worker in every other Borders store has to deal with. I think the problem is that many don't feel this or realize it. We don't automatically disengage ourselves from the rest of the Borders employees once we've been unionized. We still all have the same struggles and day to day concerns. Somehow we aren't thinking or acting as collectively as we should. There have to be ways to strengthen the connection. This website should be one definite way to do that---the problem is that it hasn't functioned as such...so out came my sarcastic reaction.

If lack of a union is what makes you feel disconnected, then you/I/we should try to rethink it. For instance, the Mpls store attempted to reach out to employees elsewhere as has the UFCW to include everyone on whatever level possible. I'm just saying, that if you want help in organizing it's out there. If you want comfort that you are not the only one dealing with the issues you face at your store, it's out there too--it's here on this site. Sounds like you are utlizing it. That's a good thing--but, is there a way to bring everyone together on these issues and really DO something on a large scale/collectively? I think so---but as long as others continue to feel this disconnect that you do then it will be a struggle.

For the record, sexual harrassment is a big concern to myself and other women working everywhere. One of the things that I really despised about the job was the group of male customers that went out of their way to make me feel uncomfortable while working. My shoes never were that comfortable either. The post was poking more at the larger picture--I would never discredit anyone's actual concerns. It comes out of frustration. It's good that you responded though and are thinking about it.

Thu, 04/13/2006 - 20:28 — Erica

hey, see what I've posted on the 'Management spying on employees online' in response to you, I'm sure it would have been better posted here. I agree with you on the points you raise in your post and I do apologise if it seemed I implied you aren't concerned with sexual harassment. I beg your pardon and I'm very impressed with your reply.

As I touched on in my post in the other thread, there is a 'disconnect' but it's to such an extent that it is not always even perceived: the best way I can think of putting it right this minute is I am so continually disappointed with several aspects of my job that I don't ALLOW myself to be connected/engaged with it. It's the same situation I have always encountered whether working or studying under an institution that I have forgotten that it is possible I COULD connect. Does that make sense?

I think that your passion for utilising the resource for this site is inspiring...I think the biggest threat is that there are always other would be employees - in this job market we are disposable (maybe a union could even change that?). Regardless, I agree. There must be a way of strengthening the connection.

As I've said, bookselling could be so much more, and so could Borders.

P.S. I'd love to think it was a comedian but I think it may well be an idiot...

Sat, 05/20/2006 - 19:21 — unionstorebookseller

I am an employee of the unionized store #0027 that is being closed.

Officially, the closing of the store has nothing to do with the store being unionized. I do personally believe this to be true, but it is possible that it played a small role into the decision to close the location, but it was definatly not the largest factor in the decision.

The mall in which the store is located came under new ownership last year. The investment company that purchased the property, purchased it with plans to redevelop the property (i.e. double the retail square footage and build 4-5 stories of condos on top of the property.) The city of Minneapolis has approved the project and all building permits have been issued. Now they are waiting for a good time to start the project.

Borders was expected to remain as a tenant of the mall as it is the largest anchor store in the facility. The mall and Borders corporate had been working on new lease agreements for over the last six months. They were unable to reach an agreement because of several issues with the terms of the lease. The biggest problems existed with the temporary location for the store, before we were moved into our final location. The mall offered Borders an early withdrawal from their existing lease, and Borders corporate accepted it.

Borders has been good at placing myself and my coworkers to other locations in our metro area. Of the slightly more than 20 employees at store #27, I believe only 3 are not staying with the company.

It is too bad. Store #27 was a truly unique location. It did not have a cafe and it did not have a music section. It had many loyal customers. The literature, poetry, and gay/lesbian sections have been commented on by local papers as being the best in the city. I would not be surprised if the turnover at our store was the lowest in the company. About half of the staff has been with the company for 5 or more years. Three have been with the company for over ten years. Our customer service scores ranked us #1 in the company for the last two quarters(for urban locations). If you walked into the store, you might find yourself thinking, "Is this an independant book store?" The small size of the store did not allow for all of the silly corporate displays that larger locations have.

I had transferred to store #27 from a different location. I can't begin to tell you about all of the ways it was different from new and full format stores.

We close May 29th at 5:00 pm.

It will be missed.

Mon, 05/22/2006 - 00:45 — fencesitter

We will miss having a sister store that is union. I hope there are other pro union employees out there who will step up. Maybe some of you folks with experience at 27 can do a little crosspolination.

Solidarity, Stay strong.

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