To: All Copperfield's Books Petaluma Staff, Concerned Citizens, and Valued Customers and Supporters of Copperfield's Books Petaluma 

From: Copperfield's Books Petaluma Management 

Date: August 15, 2024 

Subject: Bargaining Update #2 – For the Record 

The parties have been in active collective bargaining since the Summer of 2023, commencing on June 29, 2023.¹ Altogether Copperfield’s Books Petaluma and IWW have reached 25 tentative agreements (TAs), including agreement on bargaining ground rules. The remaining open issues discussed at the bargaining table as recently as August 14, 2024, include the following: Wages; Vacation / Sick Leave (time off); and Benefits. Duration (the chronological length of the labor new labor contract) is also still open.² 

In bargaining over the last 14 months, the parties’ have reached numerous tentative agreements ("TAs"), including those on the following topics: 

• Preamble - TA 7/11/23; 
• Recognition - TA 7/11/23; 
• Changes to the Status Quo - TA 7/11/23; 
• Union Security and Membership - TA 7/11/23; 
• Information Requests and Personnel Files - TA 7/11/23; 
• Dignity and Respect - TA 7/11/23; 
• Management Rights - TA 8/10/23; 
• Freedom from Harassment and Discrimination - TA 9/14/23; 
• Workplace Safety - TA 9/14/23; 
• Workplace Violence - TA 9/14/23; 
• General Provisions - TA 9/14/23; 
• Promulgation of Work Rules - TA 9/14/23; 
• Job Postings and Petaluma Bargaining Unit Hiring - TA 9/14/23;³ 
• Shop Steward Rights – TA 11/29/23; 
• Discipline and Discharge – TA 11/29/23; 
• Grievance Procedure – TA 11/29/23; 
• Non-arbitral Respect Grievances – TA 11/29/23; 
• Layoffs, Probation, and Seniority – TA 1/24/2024; 
• Savings, No Derogations, Integration – TA 3/14/2024; 
• Meals and Breaks – TA 3/28/2024; 
• Leaves of Absence – TA 4/30/2024; 
• Holidays – TA 6/20/2024; 
• Hours of Work, Overtime, and Scheduling – TA 7/9/2024; and 
• Travel and Expense Reimbursement – TA 8/14/2024. 

Overall, the tone of the process continues to be very positive, notwithstanding social media posts to the contrary. The Copperfield’s Books Petaluma management team considers such posts to be controversial, exaggerated, and in some respects completely false. In spite of such communications, in truth, we are still making steady, good faith progress toward our first collective bargaining agreement for the workers at the Petaluma store. The above list of TAs gives credence to this statement. As of this update, the draft collective bargaining agreement is nearly done, but “bread and butter” issues remain. These are customarily agreed upon toward the end of the traditional bargaining process. 

If you are in the bargaining unit and otherwise not a part of Copperfield's Books Petaluma management, you may direct your questions and comments to the Copperfield's Books Petaluma Union (copperfieldsbooksunion@gmail.com). Otherwise, you may also contact the Copperfield's Books Petaluma Management bargaining committee through RM Horrell (rhorrell@copperbook.com).⁴

Thanks for your ongoing interest in this process and the success Copperfield’s Books Petaluma, one of the remaining independent bookstores in America! 

Cc: IWW and Management Bargaining Committees 

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¹ On Friday April 28, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") conducted a secret ballot election among Copperfield's Books Petaluma non-management and non-supervisory employees in which a majority voted to recognize the Industrial Workers of the World ("IWW") as their exclusive representative for purposes of collective bargaining. On May 11, 2023, the NLRB certified the election results in favor of IWW. Formal labor negotiations began on June 29, 2023, after the parties' initial "meet and greet" on June 15th. 

² The CBP bargaining team also recently dropped its proposal for a traditional “no strike / no lock out” as well as its proposed alternative in the form of “mediation and fact finding.” CBP yielded on this topic due to the IWW’s insistence that it cannot oblige the store due to IWW’s constitution and bylaws that prohibit the Union leadership from entering into such contractual restrictions. For more information on this topic, one can simply do a search on “no strike no lock out” provisions in light of the U. S. Supreme Court’s rulings commonly known in the field as the “Steel Workers Trilogy.” 

³ The parties' collective bargaining Ground Rules were also signed off as of 9/14/2023. 

⁴ Because we are in active labor negotiations, our management team may not be able to answer all of your questions with specific details due to Labor Board rules, regulations, and case law that generally prevent us from negotiating away from the bargaining table; that is, we cannot negotiate with persons other than authorized members of IWW’s bargaining committee or otherwise bypass the IWW team.