Powell’s Books confirmed Monday it has completed a “final round of layoffs” in a series of workforce reductions over the past year.
The company did not release raw numbers, but says it has reduced its workforce by about 20%. Reached by email late last week, Myka Dubay, union representative for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 5, which represents Powell’s employees, said ILWU is aware of 40 union positions that have been eliminated across the company over the past year, along with approximately 20 management positions.
According to Dubay, there were 324 union members at Powell’s (including temporary employees hired for the summer season) when layoffs were first announced in August. The count of union employees at the end of the January layoffs was 223…