On Tuesday, workers at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange’s east-side location at East Speedway and North Wilmot Road became the first in their industry to unionize in Arizona.
The majority of employees voted to be represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union Local 99 during a National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) secret ballot election.
“I’m relieved. I’m happy. I think part of it maybe hasn’t quite said it yet, but I’m just like, Oh my God, the thing we worked on for half a year is finally here,” said Kai Parmenter, a book buyer at Bookmans East.
The store’s petition to unionize comes after the store’s entire marketing team was laid off in January without notice, according to the union.
“Next we need to begin the negotiations part and that unfortunately could take a good amount of time,” Parmenter said. “But we are hopeful that they will come to the table in good faith and that we’ll be able to come to an agreement that benefits the workers here, but also the company.”