Twelve workers at Kansas City’s Half Price Books in Westport unanimously won a Nov. 17 vote to unionize, making them the 11th unionized store in the country.
The vote at the Westport store is the latest in a succession of Half Price Books unions starting up in the area. Employees at the store in Overland Park unanimously voted to unionize in July; Half Price Books in Wichita unionized last year. On Nov. 30, workers at the Olathe location will vote on whether to join their colleagues in United Food and Commercial Workers Local 2 and other stores in Half Price Books Workers United.
If workers at the Olathe store win their election, the UFCW will have organized about 10% of the company — a third of that union now lies in the Kansas City region. Half Price Books Workers United began in Minnesota, but the Kansas City area has become a new hub for the organizing efforts.
“I care so deeply about the people that I work with, and I believe that they all need to be protected. This isn’t about books. I would even say it’s not even about pay raises. It’s about people,” said Vince Medellin, who has worked at the Westport store for nearly a decade.
The win didn’t come easily. Employees said Half Price Books’ resistance to the effort...
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