McNally Jackson's Workers Vote To Unionize

NOLITA, NY — McNally Jackson workers have officially unionized.

Workers at McNally Jackson's three bookstores and two stationary shops voted to form a union with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which will represent 90 workers.

Some 93 percent of employees voted in favor of the union Thursday, according to RWDSU.

Workers have said they've experience verbal abuse from owners or managers and don't have clear information about benefits, transferring stores and well-defined positions, the union said in an announcement. Favoritism and a lack of dignity and respect also plague the workplace, workers say.

"We put in so much work and just want to be fairly compensated, which I feel we haven't been," Kathryn Harper, a returns and stationary manager at the Williamsburg shop, told Patch. "We all just love working here so much and just want to be acknowledged for all the very hard work that we all do."

Amid organizing efforts, owner Sarah McNally has been expanding her local empire citywide.

In addition to McNally Jackson's headquarters in Nolita, the company opened a new outpost in the Seaport District this fall, and in Williamsburg and LaGuardia Airport back in 2018. The company's stationary shops Goods for the Study are in the West Village and Nolita.

"We're proud to welcome the workers of McNally Jackson into our union," the president of RWDSU Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement. "Tonight, they showed that the best way for working people to protect themselves and their families is to join together in a union."

When workers have dealt with harassment, they've found there are no pathways to deal with the issues. For instance, there isn't a human resources department, Harper says.

Workers want more structure and better pay, since many make the minimum wage of $15 an hour, according to Harper. The union also says some workers' pay has been cut without notice if their position changes.

The union will include baristas too — who make the tipped minimum wage, which allows baristas to be paid less than other workers' minimum wage since they receive tips. But since tips fluctuate, so do their paychecks, spurring "financial stress."

"Ultimately, what we want from contracting negotiations is just a structured conversation," Harper said. "We just want to sit down with Sarah and say these are the issues we are having and here's how we want to solve them. I'm sure she has some ideas too."

McNally did not immediately respond for comment.