New York, New York - 2022 has been a year for industrial action in the US, and now it's the publishing business' turn to feel the confidence of a resurgent labor movement, as hundreds of HarperCollins employees in New York City went on strike Thursday.

The publishing giant is one of the so-called Big Five, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette. Yet despite that – and record profits posted for 2021 – many HarperCollins workers still earn below $50,000.

That's nowhere near enough to afford living in New York, where about 250 editors, salespeople, and other employees walked out Thursday morning and began picketing outside the company's 195 Broadway headquarters.

They are represented by Local 2110 United Auto Workers Union, who have been negotiating with HarperCollins for the past year in order to secure better contracts and conditions for their members. But the union says proposals haven't changed since April, despite a one-day walkout in July that ended up being just a taste of what was to come.

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Now, workers are on an indefinite strike, and they're calling on readers and industry colleagues alike – whether authors, freelancers, or booksellers – to support them in their struggle.

"Let me reassure you that a strike isn't something any of us union members are choosing to do lightly," HarperCollins associate editor Rachel Kambury tweeted.

"This is our backed-into-a-corner, last-ditch-attempt to end a management-imposed stalemate and reach a deal that is meaningfully beneficial, to the lowest paid and most overworked employees, most of whom are women, many of whom are women of color, LGBTQIA+, disabled, or otherwise underrepresented in (and disproportionately impacted by) this industry."

Some high-profile writers have given their full backing to the strike and their number is growing as support for unions and labor actions across industries continues to surge.