Another interesting note about Powells is that, while it has a reputation as being
counter-culture and
anti-corporate, they have been acting very poorly towards their
employees. Recently they were on
strike. Their main complaint was that the average wage at Powells, including the high payed
computer geeks at Powells.com was on the order of $8 an hour. They voted to
unionize and Powell (the man behind the store), for a long time, refused to recognize the union.
It was a very odd thing to cross a picket line to go to a
book store. I promised the striking workers who
accosted me in the street that I would browse a lot, and leave books in the wrong place, but not
buy anthing. That seemed to make them
smile.
They now have a contract so we can all shop at Powells again without feeling guilty.