Book Store workers face unclear future

Current Book Store employees expressed concern over the security of their jobs in the wake of a recent University agreement calling for Barnes and Noble College Bookstores to assume management of the operation in July. With only a few exceptions, Barnes and Noble is under no obligation to rehire any of The Book Store's employees under the contract, company and University officials said. Book Store Director Mike Knezic will remain the manager of the store at its current location. He will also manage the Barnes and Noble superstore at 36th and Walnut streets when it opens in the fall of 1998. And two staffers who have worked at the store for over 25 years will remain on the University's payroll and benefits plans, according to Executive Vice President John Fry. But all other current Book Store employees will have to reapply for their positions. Those who are given positions will be employed and paid by Barnes and Noble. The company will interview applicants in May, according to Clint Davidson, vice president for Human Resources. Janine von Juergensonn, vice president of Barnes and Noble College Bookstores, said Monday that with the exception of a few on-site administrators, the Book Store's business operations will be conducted at the company's New York headquarters. The Book Store currently has about 15 business staffers. Several employees who attended the meeting said they were given very little information about how the change will affect them. "There were a lot of irate people," one employee said. "I expected more details than we got." They also said the University's representatives could not answer many of their questions. "They've really kept us in the dark here," another employee said. All of the employees interviewed said they were concerned about losing their jobs. And most also said they feared losing the benefits packages they get as University employees. For some, these benefits include college tuition. Davidson said Barnes and Noble has not decided yet what pay scales and benefits packages it will offer after taking over management of the store. One employee who was at the meeting said the officials explained that within several weeks, the University would give each staffer a packet of information comparing their current salaries and benefits to what they would get from Barnes and Noble. The employee also said they were told that they would know whether they will be rehired by July 1. Another employee said that for more than a year, The Book Store has reduced its staff by not replacing employees who left or retired, and by hiring very few new workers. Fry said any Book Store employees laid off in the transition will be offered the option of using one of two outplacement companies the University has hired to help those laid off in the ongoing administrative restructuring program.