The strike by unionized workers against the Strand Book Store, New York City, which began on Saturday, has ended after the Strand and UAW Local 2179 reached a tentative agreement yesterday. Members will return to work today.
On X, the union said it had won an increase of $5.90 an hour over four years, meaning approximately 30% raises for members, who must still vote on the tentative agreement. The Strand confirmed that an agreement had been reached.
After the strike started, shop steward and bookseller Brian Bermeo told WNYC's Gothamist that the union wanted a $2 hourly raise in its first year of the contract, followed by $1.50 per hour raise in each of the second and third years, but that management had offered 50 cents less for each year. The base pay this year has been $16 an hour, which is minimum wage.
The Strand had said that 95% of its staff of about 150 are full-time workers, all of whom receive benefits, and 94 of its employees are members of the union, and that "our total benefits package is above and beyond New York City retail standards."
Founded in 1927, the Strand is owned by Nancy Bass Wyden, wife of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), the third generation of the Bass family to own the store.