who’d have thought?

"James Daunt saved the bookselling industry"

Remember February when, despite knowing about Covid-19 since November, the government was focused on Brexit coins and ringing Big Ben? And now despite an 18,000-strong army of Brexit civil servants, we can't get self-employed people on a system that helps them until June. #Bbcqt

Although Waterstones claims they had measures in place to assure the safety of everyone, they only implemented the 5-customers and no-cash rules the day after we started complaining online, and announced closure on that same day.

@kk_liber Suddenly he realises the people have a lot more power than he thought we did 🤷🏻‍♀️

@mydearthoughts3 I think Daunt wishes I wasn't an employee 😂

James Daunt keeps claiming the people who exposed the company’s treatment of their booksellers were “not employees” and “chatting shit”... boy, do I have news for you.

The Government didn't want to close pubs, but people took the piss. They didn't want to lock the country down, but people took the piss. Now greedy businesses are taking the piss. Lock it down properly Boris. #notessential

What about living with vulnerable people and bringing the virus home? Because a choice between staying home and earning nothing and going to work so we can afford food/rent is a no-choice.

They claim they sent their vulnerable employees home in time — vulnerable meaning someone with existing health conditions — when the truth is they sent their office staff home and only a week later did we get a call asking if anyone in our shop had pre-existing conditions.

Even after being forced to close, Waterstones continues to address employees with a passive-aggressive attitude through their e-mail updates and refuses to acknowledge they could and should have done better. What a disappointment.

@BooksellerLone And the passive-aggressive e-mail he sent the staff was a charm.

We did it. Thank you everyone who came forward, booksellers, authors, customers — waterstones shops will finally close on Monday, until further notice, with most employees being put on furlough.

WH Smith need to shut NOW! They are telling their staff to put their health at risk or lose their pay. Look at this message from a staff member at WHS. Any WH Smith's employees who want to organise for better conditions, DM us!

If you’re happy to keep working with customers and books that are handled by hundreds a day, be my guest. For my health, the health of my family, my team, our customers and our beloved NHS, I’ll pass. Social distancing is the only way we can flatten the curve.

Even if as a bookseller you thought the “guidelines” put in place by Waterstones were enough, it doesn’t invalidate the fact that SO MANY of us came forward about how unsafe and stressed we felt, or how, looking at the rest of Europe, we’re already 2-3 weeks too late.

NEW: Waterstones chief executive James Daunt has said they will close all stores from Monday evening after staff raised concerns about unsafe working. The U-turn comes about four hours after he told me they would stay open unless forced to close: theguardian.com/world/2020/mar…

.@waterstones I really love your shops, and have spent many happy hours in different Waterstones shops all over the country, but right now, for the sake of your customers and staff, please close them!

“Social media attention”? Who says I’m young? You were doing better with your mouth shut.

@RedMendipBoy @punka1977 maybe not... 😄

@mydearthoughts3 @punka1977 Would it help if people came in and trashed the place? Less incentive to stay open if it results in thousands of pounds of lost books...

On my way to another full day at #Waterstones today during a pandemic. Still no sanitiser, masks or gloves. We’ll probably get the same e-mail we get every day: “we’re following government advice, no need to close... anyway, great numbers yesterday!”

@AsphyxiaPallida Thank you for this 🙏🏻 we’re doing our best to talk the company into closing the shops

@mydearthoughts3 I'm so, so sorry you're going through this. I remember how terrified we were as booksellers during the swine flu, which all feels ridiculous in comparison to this. Words won't help, I know, but I hope this backlash helps to move something in you and your colleagues' favour.