HarperCollins union members went on a one-day strike on Wednesday, with round 100 staff and extra supporters marching in entrance of the corporate’s company headquarters in Manhattan within the sticky warmth for increased wages, higher household go away advantages and a stronger dedication to variety from the corporate.
Publishing has lengthy provided meager wages to entry and midlevel staff, making it troublesome to reside in New York Metropolis, the place the trade is predicated, with no second job or monetary assist from a partner or household.
Many staff say that the low wages additionally make it onerous for potential staff who don’t come from wealth to contemplate a profession in publishing, which hampers efforts to diversify the principally white trade.
“I like my job, I like my authors, it’s an unimaginable privilege to get to work on these books, and I might like to do it for the remainder of my life, if I can afford to,” mentioned Stephanie Guerdan, an affiliate editor within the kids’s division who joined the strike.
However with a wage of $56,000 a 12 months, she mentioned, she worries she gained’t be capable to keep.
“There’s a working joke in publishing that it’s important to have a wealthy accomplice to have the ability to make it within the trade,” she mentioned. “That ought to be a factor of the previous.”
A spokeswoman for HarperCollins declined to touch upon contract negotiations, which have been occurring since December 2021.
In a press release, the union mentioned that its members, who have been principally girls, earn a median of $55,000 per 12 months, with a beginning wage of $45,000. Many staff, it added, really feel stress to work lengthy hours with none extra compensation.
The union, a part of the U.A.W., represents greater than 250 staff who work within the editorial, publicity, gross sales, design, advertising and authorized departments. Staff at HarperCollins have been unionized for greater than 80 years, the union mentioned, calling it “one of many earliest unions of ‘white collar’ staff within the nation.” The union is an outlier within the trade; most massive company publishers would not have unionized staff.
Along with increased pay, HarperCollins staff are asking for higher household go away advantages, a larger dedication to growing variety and extra union safety.
“HarperCollins has been reporting report breaking profits,” mentioned Olga Brudastova, the president of Native 2110 of the U.A.W. “Compensation shouldn’t be maintaining with the speed of inflation and doesn’t mirror the contributions our members make to the corporate.”
