B&N Workers Ratify First Union Contracts at NYC Stores - Publishers Weekly

Two years. That's a long time

Today, Panzer's catnap was interrupted by clapping and cheering coming from the Catosphere. Jumping in the Panzermobile, our cute little kitty boy followed all the celebratory noises to the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about Barnes and Noble's New York City bookstores' union was what was causing all the celebrating..

 

According to Ed Nawolka's post, three NYC Barnes and Noble bookstore employees have ratified contracts. The post includes links to other information about the union and the Barnes and Noble's contract negotiations.

Panzer says, "The post says it took two years to get to the contract vote."

.

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin to snack on while you read.

 

To read the post tootle over to Barnes and Noble Workers

Workers at Two B&N Stores Vote to Unionize - Publishers Weekly

I wonder if this will impact prices at the stores?

Today, Panzer made a quick trip to the Publishers Weekly site. There he discovered a post about some of Barnes and Noble's store employees unionizing.

According to the post by Claire Kirch, two Barnes and Noble stores have voted to unionize. One store is in San Jose, CA and the other is in Bloomington, IL. The two stores join three others which have already unionized.

Panzer says, "Interesting."

Note: This is a short-medium length post. Bring a small cup of hot chocolate to drink while you read today's selection.

To read the post tootle over to Barnes and Noble

 

 

Findaway Voices, Machine Learning and the New Rights Frontier - Writer Beware(R) - Update

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Writer Beware (R) site. There with a tiny bit of digging in the posts our inquisitive kitty found what he was looking for. It's an update to a post by Victoria Strauss Panzer told you about last week.

In last week's Writer Beware (R) post she told you about the clause in the Findaway Voices contract which allowed Apple to use author's audio books to train Apple's AI to do audible books.

One visit was all it took.

The new post includes an important update about that contract clause. After audio book narrator members complained to SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) about the contract clause, the group contacted and met with Findaway. It was brought to Findaway's attention, that the contract could not force authors to sign away narrators rights without proper negotiations with the narrators union. Findaway agreed to remove the clause.

 

Panzer says, "That didn't take long to fix."

 

Note:This is a long post. Bring a large cup of cocoa and a big muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the updated post tootle over to Findaway Voices

 

HarperCollins Addresses Stalled Union Negotiations, Union ... - Publishers Weekly

Panzer just made a quick trip to the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about a strike by the workers at publisher HarperCollins.

 

A strike just before Christmas?

Emell Derra Adolphus' post explains publisher HarperCollins' position on the union employees strike against the company. HarperCollins' statement includes information about employee salary and benefit increases. The company made the statement because some authors and agents have said they support the strike. Included at the end of the post is the union's response.

 

Note: This is a long post. Bring a big cup of cocoa and a large muffin for today's reading.

 

To read the post tootle over to HarperCollins strike

Powell's Employee Union Files Grievances Over Rehires - Publishers Weekly

 It's the weekend. So, when Panzer isn't cat napping, he's cleaning up the Panzermobile and the hangar. Today when he was sweeping out the hangar, he discovered a wadded up post on the floor. Flattening it out, he found it was a post from the Publishers Weekly site about Powell's Books bookstore.

 

According to the post by Ed Nawotka, the union for Powell's Books' employees is filing grievances against the bookstore on behalf of the employees. The union wants the bookstore to rehire employees for the same wages and positions they had before the pandemic closed the bookstore as promised by management. The bookstore says since it has been over 12 months since they closed, they're not bound by that promise. The bookstore wants former employees to apply for employment positions like everyone else.

There must be more to it.

Panzer says, "Umm ... A year is a long time to hold a position open for an employee ... and ... this says most of the employees they've hired are the former employees.  ... What's wrong? "

 

Note: This is a long-medium post. Bring a cup of tea and a large muffin for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Powell's Bookstore

Amazon's Showdown in France Tests Its Ability to Sidestep Labor - The New York Times

Today as Panzer was cleaning out the Panzermobile, he found a post wadded up under the passenger seat. Flattening it out, our fastidious kitty discovered it was a post from The New York Times site about Amazon's labor problems in France.

I have my priorities.

The post by Liz Alderman and Adam Satariano documents problems with the French warehouse workers labor union. The union is not happy with Amazon's response to workers' health protection in the company's French fulfillment centers. The union took Amazon to court and won a court order that Amazon must stop delivering 'nonessential' items during the pandemic. In response Amazon closed their French fulfillment centers. Amazon is shipping orders from warehouses in other countries to French customers. There are more issues in the case and Amazon has appealed to the French Supreme Court.

Panzer says, "Umm ... Who decides what is nonessential? What's essential to the neighbor's dog wouldn't be essential to me. So, who decides? Me or the dog?"

This is a humongous post. Bring a thermos of tea and six muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon and French Unions