Librarians & Archivists Struggle -University of Western Ontario

Librarians List Subject: CAUT 2009 Librarians Conference: resolution in support of University of Western Ontario Faculty Association UWOFA-LA.

To: Members of the CAUTLib list
From: F. Holyoke, Chair, CAUT Librarians Committee
Re: Librarians and Archivists at the University of Western Ontario


The participants of the 2009 Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) CAUT Librarians Conference extend their solidarity to the Librarians and Archivists at the University of Western Ontario.

The employer's attempt to de-professionalize the Librarians and Archivists at the University of Western Ontario, is an assault on the teaching and research activity that defines the university community. We call on the employer to commence serious and good faith negotiations to resolve disputes currently on the table, and to restore to Librarians and Archivists appropriate and meaningful terms and conditions of employment.

This resolution was passed unanimously by the 80 plus conference attendees from academic libraries in every province.

On the floor of the conference a number of delegates suggested additional parties to whom the resolution should be sent so the final list will be longer. A preliminary list of recipients appears below.

University Librarian
UWO BoG Chair
Canadian Library Association (CLA) President
CLA Executive Director
Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA)
Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) President
CARL Executive Director
cc: UWOFA President
UWOFA L&A Chief negotiator
CLA Executive members



Check the UWOFA website for additional information.

CAUT Librarians Committee

Francesca Holyoke (University of New Brunswick), Chair
Betty Jeffery (University of Prince Edward Island)
Michael Skelton (Wilfrid Laurier University)
Chris Adams (University of Saskatchewan)
Margaret Law (University of Alberta)
Suzanne L. O'Neill (Fanshawe College)
Meg Raven (Mount Saint Vincent University)
Sam Trosow (University of Western Ontario)

Toronto Public Library Workers Union (TPLWU) CUPE 4948 in legal strike position Oct. 26, 2009

TORONTO, Ont. – The 2400 members of the Toronto Public Library Workers Union, Local 4948, (CUPE) will be in a legal strike position at 12:01am Monday, November 9th.

With an overwhelming strike vote mandate of 86 per cent, the union is asking the Toronto Public Library to maintain and strengthen an already highly-skilled workforce, with more full-time jobs and fairer treatment of part-time workers, to ensure that Toronto Public Library remains one of the finest public library systems in the world.

“Our vision is one of well-trained staff with good jobs and strong connections to the neighbourhoods they serve and libraries with strong collections, programs and services that are professionally delivered and attuned to the community. Good jobs with decent benefits are an investment in our city,” said Maureen O’Reilly, spokesperson for the local.

“The Toronto Public Library has a wonderful reputation for offering a wide variety of specialized collections and innovative community-based services and programs to library users,” said O’Reilly. “But recent trends at the Toronto Public Library indicate a shift to a more American-style library system - with an emphasis on cutting costs by relying upon more and more part-time work and self-service check-out machines.”

Toronto Public Library use has soared over the years. Library patrons rely on the library for many different reasons - children’s services, recreational reading, research support and special collections, free access to the internet, help with computers, study space, programming for seniors, adults, youth and newcomers, literacy support and more.

“To maintain these services at the same world-class level, it is essential that library workers have good jobs. It’s people who make libraries work,” said O’Reilly.

“We’re committed to bargaining a fair settlement and avoiding a strike. A fair settlement based on good jobs and quality service is both achievable and necessary for Toronto – we urge the Toronto Public Library Board to bargain in earnest to avoid a strike.”

The parties will be meeting with a Ministry-appointed mediator leading up to the strike deadline.

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For more information, contact:

Maureen O’Reilly, TPLWU 647-206-7457

Sarah Declerck, CUPE National Representative 416 830-9537

Progressive Librarians Guild Opposes the Actions of the Hyatt Company in Boston

The Progressive Librarians Guild opposes the actions of the Hyatt Company.

We urge all librarians to avoid using Hyatt facilities during the 2010 Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association.

Read the resolution on the boycott.
Background information on the boycott is here.

Bring Back the Hyatt 100! Boycott Hyatt in Boston.

• The three Boston area Hyatts -- the Hyatt Regency Boston, the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and the Hyatt Harborside at Logan International Airport -- fired their 98 staff housekeepers on Aug. 31, 2009 and replaced them with $8-an-hour employees of the Georgia-based Hospitality Staffing Solutions. – UNITE Local 26.

• A mess: Hyatt's housekeeping scandal. Since the hotel giant fired 98 room cleaners and replaced them with cheap labor, the backlash has been sharp, including a call for a nationwide boycott. –CNN Money, September 20, 2009.


• “If ignorance is bliss, the corporate chieftains of the Hyatt Hotel chain must be ecstatic. They pulled a lowdown, sneaky trick on 98 of Hyatt's housekeeping staff in three Boston hotels – thinking that no one would notice, care, or do anything.”
—Jim Hightower, October 6, 2009.

Boston City Council resolution
...City of Boston Resolution in Support of the Hyatt Housekeeping Staff and Their Full Reinstatement.
• RESOLVED…if the Hyatt Hotels does not reinstate these workers, that the Boston City Council will join with other governments and businesses in boycotting their services.[ filed 9/29/2009] is here.

• Boycott Hyatt Petition is here.

Bring Back the Hyatt 100! Boycott Hyatt for ALA Midwinter 2010.

Bring Back the Hyatt 100!

Hyatt UNITE HERE! Protests in Chicago Photo in "Labour Start" Contest.

[About the American Library Association and the Hyatt in Boston for Midwinter 2010 see Radical Reference.]

For the second year in a row, LabourStart is sponsoring the
*Labour Photo of the Year* competition.

This year, we had nearly double the number of submissions of
photos. Our panel of judges have picked a short-list of five official
nominees. All five are outstanding photos and starting today, you can help
choose which one of them becomes the Labour Photo of the Year.

You can see the five photos and cast your vote here.

The photos shown on that page are just tiny thumbnails. Click on
each image to see the full-size photo as well as read text about it. This
opens in a separate window or tab. Voting ends on *October 31st*. We'll announce the winner the following day.


September 24, 2009
Unite Here and supporters participate in civil disobedience in Chicago, IL. They lock arms in front of the Park Hyatt Chicago, and more than 185 are arrested.


Nearly 300 UNITE HERE members protesting demands from major hotels in Chicago and San Francisco for cutbacks, and the firing of 100 housekeepers in Boston, were arrested in peaceful civil disobedience demonstrations in recent days.