CHAMPAIGN — Workers at The Literary say they’re hopeful to see positive changes in the workplace now that they’re unionized and under new ownership.
Workers at The Literary — a bookstore, cafe and bar in downtown Champaign — voted to unionize in late August. A day before the vote, former owner Jenny Shima sold The Literary to Jeffrey and Lauren Brokish, according to reporting from Smile Politely.
Employees organized under the banner of “The Lit United,” and pointed to ongoing challenges at the store – including stagnating wages, unpredictable shift scheduling and skeleton staffing setups.
“There was definitely a culmination of things [leading to unionizing],” said Blas Nache, a bookseller at the store. “Without all of our hard effort, all of our passion, all of our love for this community and this place, it just wouldn’t run. We were missing that, and we wanted to change that.”
Workers at the cafe held an in-person secret ballot vote to unionize at the store early Thursday, Aug. 27. The vote was administered by the National Labor Relations Board, an independent federal agency protecting workers’ rights to organize.
Nache said The Literary has become a “third place” — a term coined by Ray Oldenburg to describe informal public gathering spaces — beyond the realms of home and work, that play an important role in communities.
“I love The Literary,” they said. “This is my place… and we’ve become quite a touchstone for the community. But what makes The Literary work are the workers.”
Both full-time and regular part-time employees at the Lit are now represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in contract negotiations. The RWDSU represents 100,000 members throughout the U.S., and is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
Nache said workers spent countless hours preparing the unionization efforts.
“This has taken months of planning,” Nache said. “Months of conversations, late-night meetings, different meetings figuring out who would best represent us … This was not something we did in an instant, nor did lightly.”
Many of the workers are dedicated to the store, Nache added, and they believe unionizing will benefit everyone The Literary serves, not just the employees.
“We just want to see The Literary be the best it can be,” they said.
In a press release announcing the union vote, Jordan Kelsey, a cafe manager at The Literary, said she believes unionizing will make for a happier and healthier workplace and ultimately help the business flourish.
“Consistent, equitable working conditions will boost our job satisfaction, work performance, and staff retention,” she said. “My hope is that The Lit will be able to provide sustainable jobs for its current and future employees for years to come.”
Workers at other bookstores and cafes in east-central Illinois have taken steps to unionize in recent years, including the Barnes & Noble in Bloomingtonand Starbucks locations in Urbana and Champaign.
The Lit’s new owners, Jeffrey and Lauren Brokish, also own several other businesses across the greater Champaign area, including Martinelli’s Market and Central Illinois Bakehouse. They did not respond to a request for comment.