EAST VILLAGE, NY – Disgruntled workers at union Strand Bookstore, Lower Manhattan’s iconic bookstore, are expected to rally outside the flagship store on 12th Street and Broadway on Monday to “speak out against the property’s anti-union tactics during the global pandemic.”

The rally will take place at 3 p.m.

UAW Local 2179, the union representing Strand workers, said that despite owner Nancy Bass Wyden receiving a loan of $ 1 million to $ 2 million under the Paychecks (PPP), she refused to rehire union workers and left the store “woefully understaffed for several months.”

The beloved Bookstore is the last of 48 original bookstores still standing on famed 4th Avenue Book Row in Lower Manhattan.

According to a press release from UAW Local 2179, Wyden hired staff in the fall of 2020 after a public call for business resulted in a significant increase in sales, but then laid off the majority of those workers. rehired Christmas week.

Wyden appealed for help in late October, claiming that Strand’s revenue fell 70% in 2020.

For some employees, it was the third time they were made redundant in 2020, the statement said.

Additionally, UAW Local 2179 says Wyden engaged in numerous stock purchases during the pandemic, purchasing more than $ 2.5 million in stock. Over the past year, Wyden’s foray into the stock market, specifically his purchase of Amazon shares, has been reported by several publications – including Barrons.

Wyden is married to Oregon Senator Ron Wyden; the pair sold their Manhattan townhouse in 2016 for $ 7.5 million.

“She is shouting ‘Save the Strand’ while wasting vast amounts of company resources to keep union labor off the payroll,” reads a press release from Local 2179. the UAW. “The Strand is the institution that it is because of the unique and dedicated individuals who work there. When we are hurt, so is the Strand and its future.”