By Donald Gilpin

The owners of Labyrinth Books have announced that they will recognize their workers’ choice to unionize with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), following a December request from the Labyrinth workers that their union be recognized and a January 19 date set for a formal vote on unionization.

“Since they announced just before Christmas that they wanted to unionize, we have been in a process of deep reflection and conversation, especially with our management team,” wrote Labyrinth owners Cliff Simms, Peter Simms, and Dorothea von Moltke in a January 9 press release.

They continued, “The past two weeks have convinced us that the majority of the staff that’s eligible to vote is in favor of unionizing. By voluntarily recognizing the union, we are stating our sincere intention to use this organizing moment as an occasion to listen to everyone, make positive changes, and form a united Labyrinth that can do all the work we do better together.”

Labyrinth Books would be the second bookstore in New Jersey to unionize after Barnes & Noble College Bookstore at Rutgers in May 2023, and the first independent bookstore in the state to unionize. Labyrinth currently employs 19 workers.

RWDSU representative and Communications Associate Maria DiPasquale stated on January 9 that the RWDSU had not yet been contacted by the Labyrinth owners, but that collective bargaining would be the next step after management and workers come to a recognition agreement. “The workers look forward to management signing such an agreement with the RWDSU so we can move into the collective bargaining phase,” she wrote in an email.

The Labyrinth workers have been in communication with RWDSU for several months. “They are focusing on how best to have a seat at the table,” said DiPasquale, as quoted in last week’s Town Topics. “The workers have expertise and they want a say in how Labyrinth is run, making it the best it can be for themselves, for the customers, and for the community they serve.”

Labyrinth workers have mentioned

concerns with lack of transparency and consistency regarding wages and pay increases and salaries that have not kept pace with the rising cost of living in central New Jersey.

Sam Prentice, employed at Labyrinth for the past year, said that unionization would make Labyrinth a better book store. In the era of Amazon online book sales, he stated, “Having a motivated, engaged staff that’s well read and cares about books is more important than ever.”