Public Library Union News
October 26, 2007
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 391
CUPE 391's website features video of Mitch Freedman's speech to the Vancouver Library Workers.
October 24, 2007
The Canadian Press: October 19, 2007
Workers at Vancouver public libraries have voted in favour of a new contract on Friday after 88 days on strike.
CUPE Local 391, representing about 800 library staff, says its members have voted 71 per cent to accept the tentative agreement reached Thursday with the Vancouver Public Library.
The library board will vote on the offer Saturday.
The library union is the last of three CUPE locals to settle with the City of Vancouver.
Inside and outside workers are back on the job after a 12-week strike following the acceptance of a five-year contract with a 17.5 per cent increase.
Local 391 said its deal includes the same five-year deal, with the addition of a joint committee on classification issues where the union can express its pay equity concerns.
October 23, 2007
Equitable salaries expert to speak at Central Library
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)
VANCOUVER, Oct. 23 /CNW/ - Renowned pay equity advocate and former American Library Association (ALA) president Mitch Freedman will be at the Central Library tomorrow (Wednesday) to discuss pay equity in libraries. As ALA President from 2002-2003, Mr. Freedman established the Task Force on Pay Equity. Seating capacity is 60, so those interested are advised to come early.
The event is being co-presented by CUPE 391 and Public Librarians Interest Group (PLIG), a committee of the British Columbia Library Association.
WHAT: Library Workers and Equitable Salaries - Discussion
WHEN: October 24, 2007, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Peter Kaye Room
Central Branch, Vancouver Public Library
350 West Georgia
For further information: Alex Youngberg, CUPE 391 president, (604) 908-6095; Dan Gawthrop, CUPE Communications, (604) 999-6132
October 21, 2007
VICTORIA - Nellie McClung was a passionate crusader for equality, and that's one reason Greater Victoria Public Library workers are shutting down all branches-beginning with what would have been the legendary women's rights activist's 134th birthday today.
"If Nellie were alive today and saw how the City of Victoria treats its library workers, most of whom are women, she would raise bloody hell," says CUPE 410 president Ed Seedhouse, noting that one of the library's Saanich branches is named for McClung.
September 24, 2007
Monroe County Public Library Union
A letter updating Monroe County Public Library staff on the drive to secure union representation at MCPL.
July 5, 2007
VICTORIA—Employees of the Greater Victoria Public Library say it’s time the City of Victoria delivered on a more than 10-year-old promise to pay them the same wages as other municipal employees doing comparable work in the Capital Region.
The library workers, members of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 410, today launched a campaign called “Overdue” that calls attention to the unfair wage gap.
“Right now, the clerks who check out your books get three dollars an hour less than the attendants who take your fee in the parkade below them,” says CUPE 410 president Ed Seedhouse.
“We’re saying that our jobs are just as important, so we should be paid accordingly. The City promised us in 1996 that we would achieve pay equity with city hall employees, but now that promise is more than 10 years overdue.”
“You wouldn’t keep your books overdue for that long; nor should the City leave a promise that long overdue.”
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canada’s largest union.
See ALSO:
Library merger stuck on labor issues
by Brandt Williams, Minnesota Public Radio
April 27, 2007
From Union Librarian
March 29, 2007
MLive.com:Thursday, March 29, 2007
A group of laid-off library workers on Wednesday accused library leaders of breaching union contracts by allowing unpaid volunteers and non-union workers to do their old jobs.
"We would like to hear how the board has come to these agreements to have non-union people doing what has been union work," said Denise Dansereau, who worked for the Bay County Library System for more than 30 years until December.
Dansereau was among 120 workers whose positions were eliminated as a result of last year's library millage defeats, which also led to the closing of the Sage and South Side libraries. In all, more than $3 million in cuts were made.
Dansereau, who was a senior library assistant, read aloud portions of the contracts, saying it's a violation that volunteers and library administrators have been doing jobs once belonging to workers represented under Utility Workers Union of America Local 542.
Utility Workers Union of America Local 542.
March 15, 2007
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
After gaining widespread support among city and county officials, the proposal to merge the Minneapolis and Hennepin County library systems ran into a potential roadblock Tuesday.
Officials said they have been unable to agree on how unionized city library employees, who generally earn more and work shorter weeks, will be blended into the county system, which has its own union workers. The Hennepin County Board postponed a vote to tentatively endorse the merger Tuesday, leaving uncertain how the issue will be dealt with today as the proposal gets its first hearing at the State Capitol.
Minneapolis library unions are not opposed to the merger.
March 11, 2007.
Calgary, Alberta, CA.
An excellent website for CUPE 1169- Calgary Public Library.
See the Jan/Feb 07 newsletter .
January 29, 2007
SEATTLE,WA. . The Seattle Times reports: Discontent among lower-level employees over King County library chief Bill Ptacek's management style and library restructuring has spread to mid- and lower-level supervisors, who have formed a union [Washington Council of County and City Employees (WCCCE)/AFSCME Local 1857 to bargain over working conditions.
---[read more at Union Librarian].
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