Contact: Olga Brudastova, President, Local 2110 UAW
Cellphone: 646-715-5751 || Email: olgabrudastova@2110uaw.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

HarperCollins Workers Authorize Another Strike; Strike Deadline Set for November 10

October 17, 2022, New York, NY__ Unionized employees of HarperCollins Publishers authorized another strike by 95.1% vote. The strike will commence on November 10 if the publisher does not agree to a fair contract.

The union, Local 2110 of the UAW, represents 250+ employees in editorial, sales, publicity, design, legal, and marketing departments. The union is bargaining for higher pay, a greater commitment to diversifying staff, and stronger union protection. Negotiations started in December 2021 and unionized employees have been working without a contract since April 2022.

This strike authorization and a strike deadline come after months of negotiations and a one-day strike on July 20. Most recently, the union has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board in response to the company’s refusal to provide information pertinent to bargaining.

“We have been bargaining for 11 months toward an agreement that would make HarperCollins a more accessible, equitable, and just workplace,” said Laura Harshberger, a Senior Production Editor in Children’s Books and the Union Chairperson. “Once again, the members voted to authorize a strike because the company refuses to agree to a fair contract for the employees that make it so successful. This time, our mandate is even stronger, with even greater participation across union membership.”

The current vote has seen greater turnout and a greater number of affirmative votes from last summer—194 to 10 (95.1% YES) compared to 185 to 1 last time.

While union members were voting to authorize the strike, the company announced layoffs, including a number of bargaining unit employees.

“Management is citing cost-cutting as the motivation for these layoffs, but they fail to specify what other measures have been considered and implemented before putting employees’ livelihoods on the chopping block,” said Stephanie Guerdan, an Associate Editor in Children’s Books who has worked at HarperCollins since 2017. “Brian Murray’s announcement on Thursday also mentioned hiring freezes, which the company denied were happening earlier this fall. It is no surprise that our members do not trust management and want to see their commitments reflected in a union contract. We need a tangible change and not empty promises.”

The mainly women workers average $55,000 annually, with a starting salary of $45,000. Many employees cite pressure to work extra hours without additional compensation. The company, one of the top five book publishers globally, reported record-setting profits in the past two years.

HarperCollins employees have had a union for more than 80 years and it is one of the earliest unions of “white collar” workers in the country. It is part of Technical, Office and Professonal Union UAW Local 2110. Contract negotiations with HarperCollins management began in December 2021 when a one-year pandemic extension of the contract was set to expire. Currently, HarperCollins is the only major book publisher in the U.S. to be unionized, though book publishers in other countries have unions.

Local 2110 UAW also represents workers at the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Columbia University, Film Forum, Teachers College, ACLU, Center for Reproductive Rights, The New Press, and many more. The union has a reputation for aggressive organizing and bargaining and progressive politics.

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