The Scarlett Letters radical bookshop to close following Instagram blowout and staff balloting for strikes

The Scarlett Letters was intended as a radically inclusive space, but after less than a year open, a bitter dispute between the workers and its founder means it’s closing shop.

Bethnal Green’s new bookshop, The Scarlett Letters, is set to close after just eight months trading due to unresolved disputes between staff and management. 

Opened last November by local writer and activist Marin Scarlett, The Scarlett Letters was branded as a ‘radical intersectional space,’ specialising in sex-worker literature. A thoughtful, eclectic selection of books and events, ranging from stripper life-drawing to quiet reading meet-ups, made the shop popular. 

On June 9, all the shop’s current booksellers announced they are striking as part of the United Voices of the World (UVW) Union. The workers are demanding fixed-hour contracts, occupational sick pay, financial transparency, and fairer pay for freelance and out-of-hours work. 

The booksellers’ protest on Instagram reads, ‘The workers are queer, trans, racialised, disabled, sex workers and students. They joined this workplace because it promised to be a supportive environment and aimed to provide security and opportunity to marginalised communities.’

‘Their identities have been used to advertise and fundraise for the bookshop as a radical space whilst their voices are not listened to.’ 

Following the announcement that staff would ballot to strike, Scarlett, the founder and director of The Scarlett Letters, claims she made several requests to meet with the booksellers during June, which were rejected. A proposal for a different team structure was also rejected.

Independent bookstores in the UK are recovering from a difficult period in the mid-2010s, with last year’s number of stores remaining near a recent 10-year high. However, rising rents and cost-of-living mean running an independent business is still a challenge. 

After no resolution was reached with the booksellers, Scarlett has announced on Instagram that the shop will be shutting down for good. 

‘The Scarlett Letters cannot continue to operate with our current structure. […] Therefore, the bookshop will be closing,’ the statement reads. 

‘Such a terrible and sad situation but I’ve been left with little choice,’ Scarlett said to the Slice. She explained she has also had to take on increased caring responsibilities for a parent with mental health needs.

‘I have desperately needed to hire a manager to support. If I can’t do that, we need to close.’ 

Her statement also addresses the claims made by the booksellers, who were striking as part of UVW (located next door to the bookshop), including pay, transparency, and zero-hour contracts.

‘All booksellers receive £15 per hour salary as well as employer national insurance contributions and statutory employee benefits. To our knowledge, this is the highest starting salary for any bookseller in the UK.’ 

The statement elaborates that workers set their own freelance rates, that a new sick pay scheme has already been discussed and is now in place, and that negotiations for cooperative principles were already ongoing at the time of the staff balloting for strike action. 

In response to requests for financial transparency, Scarlett said, ‘Within a carceral state, it is insensitive at best to demand full itemised financial information from a sx worker community venture.’Scarlett also maintains that fixed-hour contracts are currently not possible, given the business’s current finances. 

Intriguingly, the statement also highlighted a potential conflict of interest between UVW and The Scarlett Letters, claiming that the bookshop’s current shop unit had originally been offered to UVW.

‘Due to our first unit’s structural issues, the space was instead allocated to The Scarlett Letters. We do not suggest that the dispute is motivated by this fact, but believe this is relevant information which should have been disclosed by UVW.’ 

The Scarlett Letters’ landlord is Pelican House, which rents its shopfronts to grassroots and community groups and businesses. UVW has maintained that there was no conflict of interest over the space, and that the disclosure was misleading. 

Following the announcement that the bookshop would be closing, UVW took to Instagram to respond. ‘This decision was made public at the same time we were informed via email, so many of us found out we would lose our jobs from social media. 

The closure follows our public organising and ongoing dispute, raising serious concerns about the consequences of speaking up collectively.’ 

The booksellers are now calling for Scarlett to step down and transfer directorship, ‘so we can rebuild TSL into a worker-led, community-rooted space.’ In the meantime, a hardship crowdfunder has been launched for the workers, with £1,722 raised so far. 

On the bookshop shutting down, Scarlett said to the Slice, ‘It was complex and exhausting but a joy in many ways, and I will be desperately sad to say goodbye.’ 

She has not yet responded to the booksellers’ latest statement. 

The Slice reached out to the booksellers for a comment, but at the time of publishing, has not heard back. 

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