Half Price Books union keeps growing as workers in Apple Valley organize

Workers at the Half Price Books in Apple Valley celebrate their successful union election. (UFCW photo)

The Twin Cities area has its fifth union bookstore, after workers at the Half Price Books in Apple Valley voted earlier this month to organize with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 663.

Workers at the company’s stores in St. Louis Park, Coon Rapids, St. Paul and Roseville organized in 2021, won their union elections in 2022, and ratified their first contract in 2024. UFCW Local 1189 represents workers at the St. Paul and Roseville stores.

The new, 15-person bargaining unit in Apple Valley will look to build on gains made by union members at the other locations, bookseller Drew Schmidt said. That includes guardrails for the employer’s use of artificial intelligence in the workplace.

“Half Price Books is attempting to iron out the individuality that shapes our community by standardizing our roles and incorporating AI in our workplace,” Schmidt said. “Unionizing is our way of encouraging Half Price Books to correct its course.”

Apple Valley workers also hope to bargain for higher wages and better staffing in their store, which sees steady foot traffic despite being the smallest Half Price Books outlet in the area, bookseller Katelyn Anderson said.

“We’re fairly busy and have much more limited space,” she said. “I feel like sometimes we don’t have enough people to cover how busy our store is.”

Meanwhile, workers’ wages aren’t keeping up with the rising cost of living, and Anderson said the pay does not reflect the level of expertise she and her co-workers must maintain. Unlike most other retail jobs, Half Price Books workers make cash offers to people looking to sell their books, albums or other materials.

“It’s really hard to kind of feel comfortable in this job with how much work we’re asked to do for the wages that we get,” Anderson said.

“I love this job. It’s cool to see the stuff that comes in and be able to help people find materials that they’re excited and passionate about. It’s amazing, but it does kind of feel defeating because they’re just not really livable wages anymore.”

Apple Valley workers voted 10-5 in favor of unionizing. The National Labor Relations Board certified the election results July 8.

– Michael Moore, UA editor