Photo courtesy of ALA The American Library Association via Flickr. HarperCollins is facing a strike by unionized workers fighting for better wages and benefits.
By Jude Barrera ’24
Staff Writer & Copy Editor
The unionized workers of HarperCollins, one of the four major publishing companies in the United States, have been on strike since Nov. 10, after the publishing company failed to agree to the union’s proposed contract. HarperCollins has been unionized for over 80 years and is the only major publisher in the United States to be unionized. Negotiations for a new union contract started in December 2021, and employees have been working without a contract since. Currently, the striking workers are demonstrating in front of the company’s New York City offices and will continue to strike until their demands are met.
The union’s demands include the implementation of fair pay, more diversity in the workplace and more protections for the union itself. According to the union’s press release, the minimum salary at HarperCollins is $45,000. The average rent of a one-bedroom apartment in New York City, where HarperCollins is located, is $2,573, according to CBS News. This means that new HarperCollins employees would have to spend nearly their entire salary on rent alone if they do not have a roommate.
The strike has come at a critical time for press coverage. The National Book Awards were held on Nov. 16, in the first week of the HarperCollins Union strike. Workers in the union appeared at the event, handing out buttons and flyers for attendees to show solidarity. Padma Lakshmi, who hosted the event, wore one of these buttons on stage for the during the event. Her button can be seen in the National Book Foundation’s recordings of the ceremony. Work in Publishing Week, a yearly campaign made to incentivize young people to join the industry, also occurred Nov. 14 through Nov. 18. The HarperCollins Union created a Twitter thread using the hashtag #WorkInPublishing to analyze claims of diversity and equity on the HarperCollins Careers page and advocate for better conditions in a humorous manner. Voting for the *Book Shimmy* Awards, hosted by the HarperCollins marketing site Epic Reads to celebrate the young adult genre community, will be ongoing until Dec. 6. The union already shared that winners who want to show solidarity with the union should decline their win if HarperCollins has still not approved a contract by the end of the awards.
The union is not currently asking for a boycott of buying HarperCollins-published books. They are, however, asking for agents and authors to avoid creating new contracts with HarperCollins until the strike is over, and that reviewers refrain from making content with HarperCollins books until demands are met, according to the union’s Twitter. They are also asking for donations for striking employees, as any employees participating in the strike will not be paid wages for the days they strike.
When asked why a union is necessary, Lauren Garcia ’24, an English major, said, “Union organizing is important because it protects workers from being underpaid and overworked or essentially exploited while companies maximize their profits.” Garcia’s words can be seen in many of the sentiments expressed by employees, a number of whom have pointed out on social media that their pay is not comparable to that of other major publishing houses. Garcia’s mother is part of a union for Southwest Airlines employees and they explained how having a union has helped their mother.
“One big benefit is that the union prevents nepotism practices and protects [employees] against retaliation from company superiors,” they said.
This advantage in a union is notable in the case of the HarperCollins strike. Prior to the strike, the company laid off a section of staff to cut costs. According to The New York Times, the HarperCollins Union created an unfair labor practice charge in defense of these employees, and the union noticed that six of the employees that were let go were a part of the union.
Like HarperCollins employees, Garcia said that “[Southwest employees are] still negotiating a better contract [with] Southwest.”
Though HarperCollins is the only major unionized publishing company, the independent publishing field has also begun unionizing. Earlier this year, in June, employees of Seven Seas Entertainment, a licensed translator of manga and light novels, successfully unionized after a month of striking. The strike began on May 23, and Seven Seas voluntarily recognized the union, United Workers of Seven Seas, on June 24. With the approval of the union, Seven Seas Entertainment staff became the first manga and light novel workers in North America to be unionized. United Workers of Seven Seas acknowledged the HarperCollins Union on Twitter when HarperCollins employees performed a one-day strike in July to bring the focus back to contract negotiations.
Workers unionizing in any publishing company incentivizes other employees to organize in their own workplaces. Publishing is a field that can notoriously be difficult to make a living in, as the salary is low relative to the hours worked and there are “limited opportunities for promotion,” according to Sophie Vershbow, a former assistant director of social media at Penguin Random House who now covers events about the publishing field. Better working conditions in one publishing house pressures other companies to provide similar benefits to entice new hires and maintain current employees.
The demonstration outside of the HarperCollins office paused on Nov. 23 to celebrate Thanksgiving and resumed Monday, Nov. 28. For the first nine days of the strike, the union did not receive a response from HarperCollins on continuing contract negotiations.