Oregon daily emerald., February 03, 2004, Page 3, Image 3

Labor woes bring
interim closure
to Mother Kali’s
Board members decide
to close the local feminist
bookstore temporarily
in the face of a worker strike
By Caron Alarab
Senior News Reporter
Mother Kali's Books has been tem
porarily "dosed for rejuvenation" af
ter its board of directors prematurely
dismissed the store's four employees
and locked them out Wednesday.
A "union-busting" strike last
week, organized by employees to
protest recent termination letters as
"unfair labor practices," expedited
the board members' decision to
close the store.
Board members, who say the
protest interrupted a board/staff
meeting addressing the approach
ing layoffs, said the "rejuvenation"
has been a long time coming. The
employees, however, said the
"tense" lock out and the termina
tion letters, which were previously
effective Feb.6 and Feb. 13, were rel
atively unexpected.
The Board of Directors of Mother
Kali's Books, one of the oldest femi
nist bookstores in the United States,
delivered termination letters to each
of its four staff members on Jan. 23.
About three weeks prior to the letters,
the board told staff members that
they could no longer access health
benefits and that they "might" be tak
ing applications for a new manage
ment and staff, former co-manager
Cheryl RiversFIaileysaid.
RiversHailey said the board failed
to inform the employees that they
could apply for the new positions.
"They never told us anything
about applying for new staff posi
tions," she said. "They never even
gave us job descriptions."
But Board President Kathleen
Kendrick disputes that allegation.
We informed them before we ad
vertised for a permanent manager
that they were welcome to apply;
none did so," Kendrick said in a
press release. "By then we realized
that we could no longer afford to
continue as we had."
The employees, who are members
of Industrial Workers of the World
Local 660, filed an unfair labor prac
tices claim with the National Labor
Relations Board Portland office Jan.
26 in response to their termination.
The employees also held a commu
nity protest at the store Jan. 27, in
volving about 30 participants, in
cluding the store volunteer
coordinator and IWW Local 660
representative Jeanine Malito. Mali
to carried a sign stating "Union bust
ing is the patriarchy."
The next evening, at a board/staff
meeting, the board demanded the
staff member's keys and locked
them out, even though their termi
nations were not due to start until
Feb. 6, RiversHailey said.
"The board said that they were go
ing to close for a couple of weeks to
straighten things out, or something
to that effect," she said.
Board members said Malito, who
witnessed the lockout, used "unpro
fessional veiled threats" while talk
ing to the board.
"We feel strongly that the employees
were misinformed and misled by this
union spokesperson," board member
Daryl Moore said in a press release.
Malito, a local activist and com
munity volunteer, said she thinks
board members have taken the "low
Mother Kali's
closed untt^ $
Lauren Wirner Photographer
A sign in the window of Mother Kali’s Books
explains the recent closure of the store as
they change management and staff.
road, morally" for personally attack
ing her via the press release.
"These two board members, who
have been at the store for less time
than the employees, were telling
them they don't have jobs and ask
ing me not to speak," Malito said.
"Well, I may have called them
patriarchal."
Malito said she has never misled
or misinformed the former employ
ees of Mother Kali's Books.
"(The employees) asked for my
help but they have made their own
decisions," she said.
According to a Mother Kali's press
release, which is the only form of
comment offered by the board, a
combination of recent hard times
and unauthorized employee expen
ditures caused the board members
to re-assess the staff.
"We knew last year that we either
needed to bring in a professional
management team or close the
doors," Kendrick said.
Moore added that "everyone knew
every step of the way that reorgani
zation of some kind was coming."
The board alleges that a series of
"disturbing " employee expendi
tures, including an $800 payment
for massages to a new employee, led
to several cost-cutting measures.
KiversHailey said she knows noth
ing of the payment.
When the employees responded
with accusations of "unfair prac
tices," the board agreed to "voluntar
ily recognize" the staffs desire for a
union proposal. However, River
sHailey said the board has a long
history of refusals to employee bar
gaining attempts due to "lack of
time" for them.
The board has considered filing their
own complaint with a labor board to
defend the store's local reputation.
"It hasn't been fun to be so wildly
misrepresented in our own commu
nity," Moore said in the press re
lease. "We made sure the staff was al
ways paid, and when it became clear
that things couldn't continue as they
were, we offered — and will honor
— termination compensation."
After the lockout, RiversHailey
Turn to KALI'S, page 4 ■
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