Library employees in the Montgomery County Library System recently negotiated a reinstated shift differential after the system’s hours were cut due to budget cuts. The library system changed its hours in July, changing the pay for many of the library employees. The employees used to receive a differential for hours worked after 2pm if 75 percent of their scheduled hours were between 2 and 10:59pm. But the employees needed to start their shifts at 12pm or after to receive the differential.
The amended agreement will now grant the differential for employees whose shifts begin on or after 11:30am.
Employees who were affected by the change in hours and did not receive the differential will also receive eight hours compensatory time.
The agreement is not retroactive, however, due to budget constraints, but the MOA does note that administrators are to make every effort to implement the agreement by the October 24, 2010 pay period.
A private company in Maryland has taken over public libraries in ailing cities in California, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas, growing into the country's fifth-largest library system.
Now the company, Library Systems & Services, has been hired for the first time to run a system in a relatively healthy city, setting off an intense and often acrimonious debate about the role of outsourcing in a ravaged economy.
Local 1994 member and Quince Orchard Library employee Eve Burton has been selected to win the County Executive's Excellence in the Arts & Humanities, Education Award. Eve received this award because of the work she has done with storytelling and poetry at Montgomery County Public Libraries. Library budget cuts has forced the libraries to shut down these programs, but the storytelling program has found an outside sponsor thanks to the Dogwood Dogs 4H Club.
The awards ceremony will take place on Monday, October 18, 2010, at 7:00 p.m., at the Music Center at Strathmore in Rockville.
"I fundamentally believe that all county or state workers should have the option to organize, seek representation, and engage in collective bargaining. Given that the current system provides that right to all other county employees, there is no justification for not extending this right to library employees as well, whether they ultimately choose to exercise this right or not." -- Joanna Conti, candidate for Anne Arundel County Executive
Employees from Maryland libraries and advocates of library employees' rights testified on March 9 in support of HB881 - legislation that would grant collective bargaining rights to Maryland library workers.
Lobbyists and clients from Alexander & Cleaver chat in the background as library worker advocates protest the arrangement between several counties and the lobby firm for "union avoidance" activities.
"Since [Montgomery County employees organized with Local 1994], I have seen the positive change and the benefits it has brought about, not just to employees, but to management as well. Engaging the representatives of organized employees on matters dealing with terms and conditions of employment has resulted in smarter decision making and a more efficient delivery of services, thereby benefiting County residents and taxpayers."
— Isiah Leggett, Montgomery County Executive, Testifying at the Maryland Senate Finance Committee hearing on SB 225
Anne Arundel County Council Member Jamie Benoit has offered his support to SB 225 / HB 881, legislation that would allow library employees throughout Maryland to choose collective bargaining in their workplace.
Currently, public library employees in 22 of the 24 jurisdictions in Maryland are denied the right to collective bargaining. Montgomery County and Prince George's County have granted their library workforce collective bargaining rights.
American
Library Association-Allied Professional Association: the Organization
for the Advancement of Library Employees (ALA-APA) advocates for and
supports library employees in seeking equitable compensation, but
negotiating wages and other compensation must be done at the
institutional level.
ALA-APA cannot do collective
bargaining, so its power to improve wages and benefits is limited. By
being part of a union, library workers gain local allies who can help
to achieve pay equity and better salaries. This is especially important
in public libraries where the union brings greater power to win budget
increases from local governments. Unions are one of many ways library
workers may improve salaries.
Libraries with Union
There are many organized library systems in the U.S. and Canada. To see a running list of libraries with collective bargaining, click here.
Conti_support_Letter.pdf
