The Powell's Books Union Organizing Campaign, 1998-2001
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Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Fall 12-28-2017 Workers of the Word Unite!: The Powell's Books Union Organizing Campaign, 1998-2001 Ryan Thomas Wisnor Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Public History Commons, and the Unions Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Wisnor, Ryan Thomas, "Workers of the Word Unite!: The Powell's Books Union Organizing Campaign, 1998-2001" (2017). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 4162. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.6050 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Workers of the Word Unite!: The Powell’s Books Union Organizing Campaign, 1998-2001 by Ryan Thomas Wisnor A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Thesis Committee: David A. Horowitz, Chair Patricia Schechter Catherine McNeur Laurie Mercier Portland State University 2017 © 2017 Ryan Thomas Wisnor Abstract The labor movement’s groundswell in the 1990s accompanied a period of intense competition and conglomeration within the retail book sector. Unexpectedly, the intersection of these two trends produced two dozen union drives across the country between 1996 and 2004 at large retail bookstores, including Borders and Barnes & Noble. Historians have yet to fully examine these retail organizing contests or recount their contributions to the labor movement and its history, including booksellers’ pioneering use of the internet as an organizing tool. This thesis focuses on the aspirations, tactics, and contributions of booksellers in their struggles to unionize their workplaces, while also exploring the economic context surrounding bookselling and the labor movement at the end of the twentieth century. While the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) auspiciously announced a national campaign in 1997 to organize thousands of bookstore clerks, the only successfully unionized bookstore from this era that remains today is the Powell’s Books chain in Portland, Oregon with over 400 workers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 5. Local 5’s successful union campaign at Powell’s Books occurring between 1998 and 2000 is at the center of this study and stands out as a point of light against a dark backdrop of failed union attempts in the retail sector during the latter decades of the twentieth century. This inquiry utilizes Local 5’s internal document archive and the collection of oral histories gathered by labor historians Edward Beechert and Harvey Schwartz in 2001 and 2002. My analysis of these previously unexamined records demonstrates how Powell’s efforts to thwart the ILWU campaign proved a decisive i failure and contributed to the polarization of a super majority of the workforce behind Local 5. Equally, my analysis illustrates how the self-organization, initiative, and unrelenting creativity of booksellers transformed a narrow union election victory to overwhelming support for the union’s bargaining committee. Paramount to Local 5’s contract success was the union’s partnership with Portland’s social justice community, which induced a social movement around Powell’s Books at a time of increased political activity and unity among the nation’s labor, environment, and anti-globalization activists. The bonds of solidarity and mutual aid between Local 5 and its community allies were forged during the World Trade Organization (WTO) demonstrations in Seattle in 1999 and Portland’s revival of May Day in 2000. Following eleven work stoppages and fifty- three bargaining sessions, the union acquired a first contract that far exceeded any gains made by the UFCW at its unionized bookstores. The Powell’s agreement included improvements to existing health and retirement benefits plus an 18 percent wage increase for employees over three years. This analysis brings to light the formation of a distinct working-class culture and consciousness among Powell’s booksellers, communicated through workers’ essays, artwork, strikes, and solidarity actions with the social justice community. It provides a detailed account of Local 5’s creative street theater tactics and work stoppages that captured the imagination of activists and the attention of the broader community. The conflict forced the news media and community leaders to publicly choose sides in a labor dispute reminiscent of struggles not seen in Portland since the 1950s. Observers of all political walks worried that the Portland cultural and commercial intuition would collapse under the weight of the two-year labor contest. My research illustrates the tension among ii the city’s liberal and progressive populace created by the upstart union’s presence at prominent liberal civic leader Michael Powell’s iconic store and how the union organized prominent liberal leaders on the side of their cause. It concludes by recognizing that Local 5’s complete history remains a work in progress, but that its formation represents an indispensable Portland contribution to the revitalized national labor movement of the late 1990s. iii Dedication To the booksellers of ILWU Local 5 iv Acknowledgements I am truly grateful for all the encouragement and support that I received from so many scholars, fellow students, and family members throughout the research and writing of this thesis. First, I must thank historian Edward Beechert for his foresight in beginning the ILWU Local 5 Oral History Project. Ed’s interviews were invaluable to my writing and they created the foundation for my exploration into the subject. Historian Harvey Schwartz’s interviews with ILWU officials were equally important to my work and his encouragement was especially meaningful. I must emphasize how appreciative I am of Local 5 for providing me access to its document archive. Additional thanks are due to all the booksellers who helped train and answer my questions during my short stint as a cashier at Powell’s Books. This thesis would have remained only a dream had it not been for Bryan Bingold and Ron Solomon, who made it possible for me to view and digitize over 500 documents from the union’s early years. While the research process was full of exciting discoveries, nothing was more thrilling than sifting through the writing and imagery created by booksellers for their union campaign. Ryan Takas and Cal Hudson were always quick to respond to my inquiries and were helpful sounding boards for my writing. I am truly grateful to Mary Winzig, Jeff Hensley, and Stephen Strausbaugh for sharing with me their stories, making sure I did not get off track. No thesis is possible without the work of amazing archivists. In this regard, I am very much indebted to ILWU Librarian and Archivist Robin Walker and Portland City Archivist Mary Hansen. I want to sincerely thank my thesis committee and its chair David A. Horowitz, who served as my advisor. Through David’s U.S. Cultural History courses and our v reading conferences on labor history, he read the lion’s share of my graduate writing. I am truly fortunate to have had a scholar such as David encourage, challenge, and guide my thesis pursuit. I also want to acknowledge the influential role Patricia A. Schechter and Catherine McNeur played on my instruction in the field of Public History and for the challenging questions they posed to my thesis. I will profoundly miss their classrooms and the opportunities they created to connect the historian craft to the community at large. I consider it an honor to have had labor and oral historian Laurie Mercier on the committee. Laurie’s writings were an inspiration for my graduate studies and I truly appreciate her insightful questions and comments to my thesis. I owe heartfelt appreciation to my fellow graduate students in the Department of History. In particular, I want to thank my writing group of skilled historians: Taylor Rose, Melissa Lang, David-Paul Hedburg, and Katherine Nelson. I also want to recognize the very talented Joshua Justice, who I collaborated with on multiple public history projects. I owe the foundation of my historical training to Eileen Findlay, who served as my mentor during my undergraduate studies at American University and in the years that followed. Financial support for my graduate studies was generously provided by the Stephanie K. Oliver Graduate Award, the Barney Burke History Scholarship, and Jeanne and Ugo Pezzi. Finally, my deepest gratitude is reserved for my loving partner Holly and our daughter Evelyn, who accompanied me on this long journey every step of the way. The completion of this thesis became a family endeavor and its accomplishment would not vi have been possible without Holly’s hard work. In particular, her confidence and reassurance that I would someday complete this thesis despite all the limitations of time. I will certainly never forget the mornings spent drafting chapters before dawn as I cradled a sleepy newborn Evelyn in my arms. vii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements