ALA-APA Unveils Union wiki

ALA
Contact: Jenifer Grady
ALA-APA,Director

For Immediate Release
February 26, 2007.

ALA-APA unveils Union wiki



(CHICAGO) ALA-APA: the Organization for the Advancement of Library Employees announces the creation of ALA-APA Union, a user-contributed wiki. This wiki is a resource both for current union members and for library professionals seeking information about joining or starting a union.

“Unions are one of many ways library workers may improve salaries,” said ALA-APA Director Jenifer Grady. “ALA-APA cannot do collective bargaining, so its goal is to empower others to raise their salaries and benefits. Union membership is one of many ways to do this. By being part of a union, library workers gain local allies who can help them achieve pay equity and better salaries.”

The wiki features articles on union current events, answers frequently asked questions about unions and provides links to other wikis and blogs with similar goals. There are pages devoted to unions for academic, public and school library professionals.

Library and union advocates have embraced the new tool. Kathleen de la Peña McCook, professor of Library and Information Science at the University of South Florida in Tampa, notes that 35 percent of all librarians are union members. “These union members now have a connection to ALA-APA that recognizes our commitment to worker rights,” McCook said.

Access ALA-APA Union wiki at http://ala-apaunion.pbwiki.com. The password for editing is apaedits.

For more information on ALA-APA and its mission to improve the salaries and status of library employees, visit www.ala-apa.org.