Tucson, AZ – On Tuesday, workers at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange’s East location on Speedway and Wilmot voted in favor of unionizing with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 99, becoming the first bookstore workers in Arizona to form a union.
49 employees were eligible to vote in Tuesday’s election. Employees eligible to vote included all cashiers, customer service employees, book department employees, shrinkwrap/brodart/resurfacers, visual merchandise coordinators, music department employees, electronic department buyers/stockers/pricers, music/musical instrument employees, book department supervisors, gallery supervisors, musical instrument department supervisors, electronics department supervisors, music department supervisors, customer service supervisors, cashier supervisors, and managers on duty.
Bookmans is a Tucson-headquartered retail chain that buys and sells used goods including books, music, movies, and games. The chain has five locations, covering Tucson, Phoenix, Mesa, and Flagstaff.
“I wanted to unionize our store for better pay and benefits, but also because we feel undervalued,” said Kai Parmenter, a Book Department Buyer at Bookmans Tucson East. “Our subject matter expertise and relationships with customers is what makes Bookmans thrive. We deserve to be treated like it. Now that we have a union, we finally have a voice to make things better.”
“Standing up for positive change takes courage, and is a testament to the commitment of Bookmans Employees to preserve and improve the institution that they’ve helped build,” said Jim McLaughlin, President of UFCW Local 99. “On behalf of our entire union family, I am proud to congratulate Bookmans workers on this historic accomplishment and look forward to bringing their concerns to the bargaining table.”
While Bookmans employees are the first in Arizona to unionize, there is a growing national movement of bookstore workers who have organized with UFCW since 2021. This includes workers employed by nationwide chains like Barnes & Noble and Half Price Books as well as local shops like Politics & Prose in Washington, DC, Book Culture & Greenlight in New York City, and Savoy Bookshop & Cafe in Westerly, Rhode Island.
UFCW 99 is Arizona’s largest private-sector union, representing 25,000 essential workers at Fry’s, Safeway, and many other employers throughout the Southwest. There are over 1.3 million UFCW members nationwide.
