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NEWS > U.S.A. > READERS STRIKE STRETCHES INTO THIRD MONTH

READERS STRIKE STRETCHES INTO THIRD MONTH

Feb 12 2008

Oakland, CA – Here, outside a local branch of Barnes and Noble, the country wide reader’s strike enters its third month with no end in sight.

It’s a small gathering outside this downtown location, but the size doesn’t seem to affect how vociferous the crowd can be as they try to get their message across. Shouts of “Help us succeed, don’t read,” rise above the din of this busy intersection. Every customer exiting or entering is assailed with chants of “scab” and “reader”. This small but vocal group seems to be showing no signs of weakness even after a long and bitter three months.

“It’s hard, no doubt,” said this chapter’s strike leader Benjamin Hauser. “We’re in this for the long haul though. We won’t go until our demands are met. If we have to be here for three months or three years, we will see our demands met.”

It has been a hard row for these strikers though. Protests themselves have been difficult without signs or pamphlets, but perhaps the most difficult thing has been trying to get the message out to people across the country.
“That has been the major sticking point for us, trying to get new people. There are only so many people you can call, because of course we can’t use email or write letters,” continued Hauser.

Indeed, that has been one of the major issues in this protest from the very start. The difficulty in communicating has not only caused issues with recruiting new people, it has also caused trouble in trying to find a cohesive list of issues on which to base the strike. The inability to communicate effectively has led to disorganization in the message, which in turn has allowed the powers that be to dismiss the protests entirely. 

Perhaps more distressing is the lack of reaction from publishers and retailers. One store manager at an Oakland area Borders location spoke to us on the condition of anonymity. “They come by every couple weeks and we just tell them to get lost. We can’t have people yelling at our customers. I don’t even know what they are protesting. Guess it’s kind of hard to write a list of grievances if you can’t read.”

That sentiment was echoed by nearly everyone we interviewed at store level. Publishers seem to be indifferent and distributors seem to be completely oblivious to the strike at all. Equally oblivious, customers seem to have no sympathy.

“How can you get away without reading? I mean really.” Said one customer after a confrontation with the protestors. The overwhelming response from consumers has been surprise; the majority of the people we spoke to hadn’t even heard of the strike. That is an obstacle the protestors here seem determined to overcome no matter how long it might take.

“Like I said, we’re here until we get what we are looking for” Hauser added. “We’ll spread the word any way we can, well without writing or reading that is.”

Mike Michaels, American Correspondent

NEWS > U.S.A. > READERS STRIKE STRETCHES INTO THIRD MONTH

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