The owners of Politics and Prose, arguably D.C.’s most prominent bookstore, announced in a statement on Wednesday that they’re open to voluntarily recognizing their employees’ union.

“Yesterday, we reached out to the union organizers in the spirit of collaboration to propose negotiations on the scope of a collective bargaining unit,” co-owners Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine wrote in the statement on their website. “Our hope is that these discussions will result in an agreement and open the way to a voluntary recognition of the union at P&P.”

The statement represents a shift in the owners’ position: Graham and Muscatine had initially resolutely declined to voluntarily recognize the union, arguing that doing so would “disenfranchise” employees who did not want to sign union-authorization cards or wanted to learn more about unionization before signing on in support. When the union then filed a petition for election through the National Labor Relations Board, the owners hired Jones Day, a law firm known for its aggressive anti-union tactics (and for representing Donald Trump in various litigation matters).

Over the last week, Graham and Muscatine have faced backlash from high-profile authors and customers. “What are you doing,” New York Times best-selling author, Roxane Gay, wrote on Twitter.  Another author and local resident, Ian Millhiser, tweeted to his 104.8K followers: “I will not be shopping at [Politics and Prose], and I advise y’all not to shop there either until they fire Jones Day and recognize their workers’ union.”

Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando wrote on Twitter that Wes Moore, who is running for Maryland Governor, had replaced Muscatine as the campaign’s treasurer amid the labor dispute with Politics and Prose employees. Asked about this, a Moore spokesman told Maryland Matters, “Wes has a long history of supporting workers in their fight to collectively bargain, secure fair wages and establish safe working conditions. We strongly support every worker’s right to organize and speak with one voice.”

Community members in support of the union even held a protest outside of one of bookstore’s three locations. The Politics & Prose Workers Union has been discouraging customers against boycotting the store. Instead, workers hoping to unionize asked supporters to wear red shirts when they visit on Wednesdays.

But with ownership’s latest announcement, employees are optimistic they will recognize the union outside a formal election. Alan Hanson of Local 400 told DCist/WAMU he’s confident employees can reach an agreement with owners over who will be covered in the eventual union contract. If owners agree to voluntary recognition, a neutral third party would verify the union-authorization cards that employees have already signed.

“This is a step in the right direction and we remain cautiously optimistic as we move forward with becoming the first unionized bookstore in Washington, DC,” the Politics & Prose Workers Union said in a statement on Twitter.

Bookseller and shift supervisor Ayesha Shibli said via text: “I’m definitely (cautiously) optimistic and very heartened by the public support we’ve received.”

Ownership may also have stopped working Jones Day in the union negotiations, a firm Graham previously said the store already had on retainer after working with them on “a number of employment and labor matters.”

Graham and Muscatine’s statement says that they have “engaged a local labor attorney, Kathy Krieger, who has extensive experience representing unions and non-profit institutions.”

In an email to DCist/WAMU, Graham declined to elaborate on the public statement, “which lays out our motivation for initiating discussions with the union, which lawyer is representing us in this process, and what the focus of the negotiation is, namely the scope of the bargaining unit.”

The owners also shared the update on the bookstore’s website. “We remain committed to providing a workplace in which all employees are valued and respected, and we look forward to continuing to work together with our staff members to shape the future of P&P,” wrote Graham and Muscatine.

“I’m excited! Many people over the past 3 years have been working very hard for this moment,” Adam Wescott, who’s worked at Politics and Prose since 2015, tells WAMU/DCist via text. “[T]here’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, but we’re ready to go and do it.”