PORTLAND, Ore. — All three Powell's Books locations in the Portland metro area closed shop on Monday as workers picketed outside the downtown location on Monday as part of a planned one-day strike.
Employees also rallied outside the flagship store in downtown Portland on Saturday. Saturday's demonstration and Monday's strike came after they failed to reach a deal in negotiations last week.
The union representing Powell’s workers, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 5, said they’d be walking the picket line Monday for Labor Day, so the bookstore's management closed the store because they wouldn't have enough staff. This is the Powell's workers union first strike in 20 years.
The stores are set to reopen Tuesday.
Since January, the union has been in ongoing contract talks with Powell's. They're asking for higher wages and affordable health care.
Union representative Myka Dubay, a Powell's employee and member of the Powell's bargaining team, said Monday that they hope the strike will change the direction of negotiations.
"The goal of this strike is to get Powell's to come to the table, listen to workers and negotiate with the union in good faith," Dubay said, "and stop pre-writing proposals before hearing what we have to say."
Dubay said employees are prepared to go on strike again if this one-day strike doesn't achieve its purpose.
"We might do it again. We'll see what Powell's does at the bargaining table and how they respond," she said. "We're definitely prepared to go on strike again if necessary."
In a statement, Powell's said it deeply values its employees and respects their right to strike as part of the bargaining process.
"At a time when union organizing and activity is at an all-time high across the U.S., we are proud of the fact that we’ve supported union activity for two decades," said Emily Powell, owner and president of Powell's Books. "We know this process is tough on everyone, but we believe in the work and our track record of reaching sustainable and fair pathways forward."
In early August, workers voted to authorize a possible strike with 92% approval amid ongoing union contract negotiations with the famous independent Portland bookstore.
In a Facebook post around that time, the union criticized an annual wage increase proposal from the company that the union said would "keep many workers below a living wage for the life of the contract," and argued that the company's proposals were worse than the previous contract.
Powell's workers have been unionized with ILWU Local 5 since 1999. The contract currently under negotiation will be the union's eighth with the company.
The strike on Monday affect the Powell's Books flagship store in downtown, as well as its Hawthorne Boulevard and Beaverton locations.