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| Waterstones staff deliver petition for living wage to firm's HQ | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Waterstones staff told how they have had to back on food in order to afford rent as they travelled across the country to deliver a 9,300-signature petition to the chain’s London headquarters, calling for the introduction of a living wage. | |
| On Monday, booksellers from branches around the UK were heading to Waterstones Piccadilly to meet the managing director, James Daunt, and deliver the petition, which calls on the company to start paying staff a real living wage of £9 an hour, or £10.55 in Greater London. | |
| When the petition, started by Waterstones staff member April Newton, first came to light, 2,400 writers including Kerry Hudson, Sally Rooney and David Nicholls put their names to a second petition, asking Daunt to consider offering booksellers “the financial recognition deserving of their skill, passion, expertise and hard work”. | When the petition, started by Waterstones staff member April Newton, first came to light, 2,400 writers including Kerry Hudson, Sally Rooney and David Nicholls put their names to a second petition, asking Daunt to consider offering booksellers “the financial recognition deserving of their skill, passion, expertise and hard work”. |
| About 1,900 of the company’s 3,100 workers are paid below the real living wage, which was first proposed by the pressure group Living Wage Foundation. | About 1,900 of the company’s 3,100 workers are paid below the real living wage, which was first proposed by the pressure group Living Wage Foundation. |
| Before the meeting on Monday, Newton told the Guardian that she hoped staff could “show James Daunt what it is like working in his stores. It has been a long time since he was a bookseller, so he might not be fully connected with the realities of it today. Anyone working full time should have a wage they can live on, no matter where they work. We are not rewarded for the skill, education and intellect we bring to the job. Bookselling is a profession and it should be treated like one.” | |
| Kimi, a bookseller at the Manchester Deansgate branch who travelled to London to help deliver the petition, said she was never compensated for the hours spent organising store events and reading widely to keep her job. “I’m being forced to look for work outside the industry because I can’t make the end of the month without borrowing money off of family,” she said. “I have to walk to work because I can’t always afford the transport costs. It is heartbreaking. As a children’s bookseller, I have to know entire curriculums to advise teachers. And there is no thank you for what we do.” | Kimi, a bookseller at the Manchester Deansgate branch who travelled to London to help deliver the petition, said she was never compensated for the hours spent organising store events and reading widely to keep her job. “I’m being forced to look for work outside the industry because I can’t make the end of the month without borrowing money off of family,” she said. “I have to walk to work because I can’t always afford the transport costs. It is heartbreaking. As a children’s bookseller, I have to know entire curriculums to advise teachers. And there is no thank you for what we do.” |
| Daunt, who has been running Waterstones since 2011 and recently disputed that he was the highest-paid director, shown to be paid £1.6m last year on Waterstones financial records, has previously said that he was aiming for “a progressing pay structure based on a floor of the real living wage”. However, he said the chain could not yet afford the estimated £5m cost of raising wages, two years after returning to profit. He told the Guardian on 26 March that he “wouldn’t for one second suggest that a career in bookselling is a career paved in gold … To retain the best and most talented booksellers, we have to reward them, and we reward them as well as we can with pay, but we mainly reward them with a stimulating job.” | Daunt, who has been running Waterstones since 2011 and recently disputed that he was the highest-paid director, shown to be paid £1.6m last year on Waterstones financial records, has previously said that he was aiming for “a progressing pay structure based on a floor of the real living wage”. However, he said the chain could not yet afford the estimated £5m cost of raising wages, two years after returning to profit. He told the Guardian on 26 March that he “wouldn’t for one second suggest that a career in bookselling is a career paved in gold … To retain the best and most talented booksellers, we have to reward them, and we reward them as well as we can with pay, but we mainly reward them with a stimulating job.” |
| Alongside the original petition, the booksellers will also hand over a copy of a self-published book of workers’ anonymous testimonies, titled Working at Waterstones. The stories inside paint a picture of endemic financial worries among booksellers at all levels, with some feeling the required expertise to do the job well has gone unrecognised. Many are considering second jobs, cutting back on food and moving back in with their parents in order to meet the costs of living. | Alongside the original petition, the booksellers will also hand over a copy of a self-published book of workers’ anonymous testimonies, titled Working at Waterstones. The stories inside paint a picture of endemic financial worries among booksellers at all levels, with some feeling the required expertise to do the job well has gone unrecognised. Many are considering second jobs, cutting back on food and moving back in with their parents in order to meet the costs of living. |
| “A living wage would mean that I might not have to worry about whether I can afford to eat for the last two weeks of the month,” wrote one. Another said: “I’ve actually lost weight and my mental health has declined greatly due to having to choose whether to spend much on food or not … It’d make a huge difference as I’d be able to go out more, travel home to see my family more. My phone charger stopped working once and I got worried about buying a new one, that’s how bad this is.” | “A living wage would mean that I might not have to worry about whether I can afford to eat for the last two weeks of the month,” wrote one. Another said: “I’ve actually lost weight and my mental health has declined greatly due to having to choose whether to spend much on food or not … It’d make a huge difference as I’d be able to go out more, travel home to see my family more. My phone charger stopped working once and I got worried about buying a new one, that’s how bad this is.” |
| Another said they would finally be able to start saving for their wedding, more than five years after getting engaged: “Sadly, not being able to have saved enough for a wedding has meant that my grandfather can no longer be with us when we finally do tie the knot as he died last year.” | Another said they would finally be able to start saving for their wedding, more than five years after getting engaged: “Sadly, not being able to have saved enough for a wedding has meant that my grandfather can no longer be with us when we finally do tie the knot as he died last year.” |
| Many described feeling no motivation to pursue promotions due to the low financial rewards. One former bookseller wrote: “I made promotion a couple of times, and even then I was still paid under the living wage … I was running a two-storey, regular-size busy London store on four staff a day. It got to the point where I had panic attacks because of the stress. The pay just makes you feel so incredibly undervalued.” | |
| In a statement, a Waterstones spokesperson said: “James Daunt will be very pleased to receive the petition. We are all in agreement, after all, that it is important to raise the pay of booksellers. The question of whether it is more important to raise the pay of entry-level booksellers to the ‘real’ living wage, or more important to raise that of booksellers committing to careers at Waterstones, remains a difficult one. We think we have to prioritise our more experienced booksellers but welcome the debate.” | In a statement, a Waterstones spokesperson said: “James Daunt will be very pleased to receive the petition. We are all in agreement, after all, that it is important to raise the pay of booksellers. The question of whether it is more important to raise the pay of entry-level booksellers to the ‘real’ living wage, or more important to raise that of booksellers committing to careers at Waterstones, remains a difficult one. We think we have to prioritise our more experienced booksellers but welcome the debate.” |
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