Margaret Ziegler-Bellingham Public Library-Proud Union Member & President Offers Wisdom on Retirement

In 1974 the librarians, led by Margaret Ziegler, became members of Council 2. And, again at Ziegler’s insistence, they soon had their own local — 114-L.

That was just the beginning. The first contract took two years to negotiate. At one stage the union had to file an unfair labor practice to get the library board’s negotiating team to the table, Ziegler recalls. The board, whose members did not understand that they had to negotiate with the librarians, finally hired a negotiator. Only then did bargaining begin in earnest, she explains.

“It took a lot of perseverance to stick with it during that period, but we felt it was very important to be recognized and to be directly involved in discussions relating to our wages and working conditions,” she says. (And, she adds, it took another 10 years for the other City supervisory and professional workers to organize).

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