Authors Support UFCW Canada Local 1006A
We are writers, editors and publishers speaking in solidarity with the Chapters Kennedy Commons workers (UFCW Canada Local 1006A,) one of the few unionized Indigo locations in Toronto. Their store is facing imminent closure, and Indigo is refusing to give them the basic compensation they’re entitled to for their years of work at the company.
Most of the Kennedy Commons staff have been told they’ll be denied severance pay. Some of the workers who are getting severance are only receiving the bare minimum, despite upwards of 20 years of service, based solely on the average hours worked in the past 8 weeks. This number will be further reduced by the branch’s hiring of temporary seasonal staff. Some staff are being forced into early retirement. All are being denied transfers to other Indigo locations, despite this being regular practice in other Indigo closures.
These actions evoke classic union-busting tactics, where companies “make an example” out of unionized workers to intimidate organizing in other branches. Indigo is also leaving these employees in economic turmoil right before the holiday season.
We echo the union’s demands that:
As cultural workers, we stand alongside Local 1006A, and support the organizing efforts of staff across all Indigo locations. All workers deserve fair wages, benefits, and the ability to collectively bargain. A tremendous amount of care and attention is required to do the work of connecting readers with books on a daily basis. The staff at bookstores play a crucial part in keeping our writing alive. They’re entitled to the fruits of their labour.
Signed,
T. Abrahams
Tina Zafreen Alam
Greg Albo
Irfan Ali
Erin Alladin
Elisa Amado
Maya Ameyaw
Neal Armstrong
Alex Ateah
Gary Barwin
Dr. Jes Battis
Kate Beaton
Samantha Bernstein
Serena Lukas Bhandar
Persimmon Blackbridge
Frances Boyle
Howard Breen
Simon Brown
Skye Butters
Jake Byrne
Kaela Cadieux
Emily Carroll
Brad Casey
Jody Chan
Avik Jain Chatlani
H Felix Chau Bradley
Tom Cho
Carolyn Combs
Denise Da Costa
Degan Davis
Mieke de Vries
Michael DeForge
Trynne Delaney
Sheila Delany
Krish Dineshkumar
Farzana Doctor
Alycia Dufour
Monika Dutt
Jonathan Dyck
Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch
Maranda Elizabeth
Emily Fedoruk
Sue Ferguson
Emma FitzGerald
Rosemary Flutur
Tara Sidhoo Fraser
Leandra Gamboa
Annie Gibson
Shirley Gillett
Gregory Gillis
John Gilmore
Sahar Golshan
Mariana Muñoz Gomez
Marlowe Granados
River Halen
Maeve Hanna
Ashley Harvey
Gita Hashemi
Emma Healey
Catherine Hernandez
Marcela Huerta
Roshan James
Kyla Jamieson
Joanne Jin
Amy Jones
Daniel Sarah Karasik
Hannah Karpinski
Aris Keshav
Joelle Kidd
King Kimbit
Gary Kinsman
Rahat Kurd
Lydia Kwa
Lee Lai
Avery Lake
Amy Lam
Q Lawrence
Erica Violet Lee
karen lee
Paul Lee
Anna Leventhal
Michael Leyne
Thea Lim
Chris Lloyd
Mikaela Lucido
Sophie Lyons
Kyo Maclear
Rebecca Mangra
Alex Manley
Garth Martens
Nyla Matuk
Jason McBride
Tim McCaskell
Ami McKay
rob mclennan
Jessica Lee McMillan
David McNally
Sean Michaels
Haley Mlotek
Jessica Moore
Geoffrey D. Morrison
Elizabeth Mudenyo
Noor Naga
Scott Neigh
Norm Nehmetallah
Michael Nelson
Mai Nguyen
Karen Oberer
Ashley Obscura
Chimedum Ohaegbu
Joe Ollmann
Sofi Papamarko
Faith Paré
Jocelyn Parr
Laura Doyle Péan
Stanley Péan
S. Penn
Cleopatria Peterson
Ursula Pflug
Dasha Plett
Adan Jerreat-Poole
Barbara Pulling
Anahita Jamali Rad
Deanna Radford
Fauzia Rafique
Judy Rebick
Emma Rhodes
Jael Richardson
Patricia Robertson
Carmen Rodríguez
Ziyad Saadi
Chloé Savoie-Bernard
Laura Sergeant
Sid Sharp
Rahma Shere
Jane Shi
Marie Metaphor Specht
Casey Stepaniuk
Jillian Tamaki
Josie Teed
jorji Temple
Kai Cheng Thom
Hugh Thomas
Nazbah Tom
Jo Treggiari
Sandra Vander Schaaf
Rahul Varma
Jade Wallace
Yilin Wang
Natalie Wee
Jessica Westhead
Nathan Whitlock
Sam Wiebe
K.A. Wiggins
Janice Williamson
Alanna Yaraskavitch
Tannara Yelland
Evan Yeong