You’d think an institution that sells the humanities would value the humanity of the working class, but nope.
Pros
Opportunity to connect with other readers and occasionally writers in your neighborhood. Access to free books. It’s easy to see cultural trends when you work at a bookstore. The booksellers are awesome and generally look out for each other. The union helped implement a benefits package better than most customer service jobs will give you.
Cons
They publicly express pro-union, but their internal actions are anti-union. Schedule policy is increasingly non-conducive to a good quality of life. Extremely difficult to maintain work-life balance. Admin manipulates and pushes back if you have responsibilities outside of the store. Newer policies are squeezing out employees who have been there for years. No regard for COVID safety, especially if they can save a buck or two. The anti-racism policy on their webpage is just for show.
