What is Distinctive about the Library of Congress In Both its Collections and its Means of Access to Them,--Thomas Mann, 11/2009.

What is Distinctive about the Library of Congress In Both its Collections and its Means of Access to Them, And The Reasons LC Needs to Maintain Classified Shelving of Books Onsite, And A Way to Deal Effectively with the Problem of “Books on the Floor”--November 6, 2009.

[pdf file here.]

by Thomas Mann

Prepared for AFSCME 2910 The Library of Congress Professional Guild representing over 1,600 professional employees.

www.guild2910.org

Rockford Library Union Cuts Finalized

Rockford Library Union Cuts Finalized.
With a Rockford library board vote and a signature, a lengthy debate between the library union and administration comes to an end.

"We have an agreement with our bargaining unit," says Library Executive Director Frank Novak.

Library Union President Karla Janssen, "I think it was the best decision that we could make given the circumstances."

It's a one-year deal with some key changes that save the library close to 600-thousand dollars. It freezes 2010 wages, eliminates overtime for working Sundays and allows the library not to fill vacancies when employees decide to leave.

But administrators are still planning to lay off between 14 and 16 union workers.

"We're not happy that there's going to be layoffs, but given the economic times, we tried to minimize it as much as possible and I think that we've come to the best decision we could," says Janssen.

In another union concession, those layoffs will be based primarily on job performance, instead of seniority.

"That was a big, big, big change," says Janssen.

Novak adds, "We want to give our taxpayers the biggest bang for their buck and make sure we have the best team possible here at the library."

The change also helps the administration cut people from various classifications, instead of wiping out all librarian assistants as originally proposed.

The board of trustees has yet to vote on cuts to non-union employees. Right now they're considering laying off 14 non-bargaining workers, including management.

The board must also decide whether to start charging small fees for things like DVD's and when to cut out morning hours of operation. Those decisions must be made by the end of the year.

"I think it's going to be a bigger change than maybe what the public understands right now because of the hours change and there will be some big changes," says Janssen.

The library's director says he wants to use a scalpel, not a chain saw to make cuts and he's hoping to maintain as many community outreach program as possible.

The administration is also offering an early retirement package and that could change the number of layoffs. Final decisions are expected at the board's next meeting in mid-December.

GEO STRIKE [ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ] COMMITTEE VOTES TO OFFICIALLY SUSPEND STRIKE

MAJOR VICTORY FOR LABOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: GEO STRIKE COMMITTEE VOTES TO OFFICIALLY SUSPEND STRIKE

TEACHING AND GRADUATE ASSISTANTS AT UIUC RETURNING TO WORK PENDING CONTRACT RATIFICATION VOTE

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN (November 17): On Tuesday, November 17, at 7:00 pm, the Strike Committee of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO), AFT/IFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), officially and unanimously voted to suspend the two day strike that brought major portions of the University campus to a standstill. During a General Membership Meeting which began at 5:30 pm, the GEO bargaining team facilitated a discussion of the tentative agreements that it had signed during this morning’s negotiation session with the administration bargaining team. Afterwards, in a simple up or down vote, the 450 members present unanimously recommended to the strike committee that it accept the agreement and suspend the strike. The strike committee met immediately afterwards and took its decision.

With the strike suspended, GEO members are back at work, effective immediately. Teaching assistants will conduct their class sections tomorrow, and graduate assistants will carry out their duties at facilities across campus, including libraries, health and recreation centers, theaters, and specialized academic units.

The GEO coordinating committee will meet tomorrow to determine the schedule for a strike ratification vote to take place over the course of two days. Should the GEO general membership ratify the contract, it will then be submitted to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees for their signatures. That would officially conclude the current round of negotiations.

The GEO’s tentative agreement achieved gains across all four “pillars” of its original contract platform. In addition to winning protection for tuition waivers through the strike, the GEO secured an additional two weeks of unpaid parental leave, increases to the University’s contribution to health care premiums (reaching 75% in the third and final year of the contract), and raises on the minimum salary, totaling ten percent over three years. The GEO also forced the administration to drop their regressive contract proposals, including furloughs, “in-kind” payment, a recision of grievances related to discrimination, and a “scope of the agreement” clause that would have prevented the GEO from re-opening bargaining in the event of a change to employment conditions for graduate employees at UIUC.

Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, stated in a letter of support for the UIUC GEO strike that “the AFT has long held that universities should provide tuition waivers as a condition of employment for graduate employees.” Increased security for tuition waivers is vital to the mission of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a public, land-grant institution. Tuition waivers are also central to the UIUC’s ability to remain competitive with other Big 10 and Research 1 institutions in that they are necessary to attract the highest level of graduate employee and student talent. On November 17, the Collective Bargaining Congress Executive Committee of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) stated that “a decision to eliminate tuition waivers in selected fields or for out of state students would…undermine the ability of the university to attract high quality graduate students in a wide range of fields.” The tentative agreement works to maintain UIUC’s competitiveness by giving the GEO increased ability to resist the apparent goal of the UIUC administration to erode tuition waivers at UIUC. As AAUP President and UIUC Professor of English Cary Nelson stated on November 16, given that the administration had already eliminated them for research assistants in the sciences, there was good reason to fear administration interest in cherry picking humanities or social science sub-disciplines for similar treatment.”

The tentative agreement between the GEO and Board of Trustees bargaining teams represents a major victory for labor in the state of Illinois and the United States. The timing of the GEO victory is especially sweet given that it falls during the “Education is NOT for $A￡€!” Global Week of Action, which is being organized from Germany and includes demonstrations and teach-ins across Europe, in Africa, and in the United States in support of public higher education. The GEO especially stands in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the Graduate Employees’ Organization at the University of Illinois Chicago campus, whose negotiations with the Board of Trustees continue. The UIUC GEO also stands in solidarity with higher education labor unions in California, who will be engaging in a three day strike to resist major tuition hike for both undergraduate and graduate students. The GEO stands with higher education labor unions across the nation opposing the ongoing corporatization and privatization of our public higher education system. Public higher education must be accessible to all, regardless of economic standing.

The GEO is a labor union representing all teaching and graduate assistants (TAs and GAs) on the UIUC campus. With over 2600 GEO members, and over 2600 graduate employees represented in the bargaining unit, the GEO is one of the largest higher education union locals in the United States. The GEO strike is the first strike by a recognized union local at UIUC in over 10 years. Over 1,000 GEO members participated in the strike.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Peter Campbell, GEO Communications Officer, odell.campbell@gmail.com, 253-222-5861, or the GEO office at geo@uigeo.org, 217-344-8283, 1001 S. Wright Street, Champaign, IL, 61820. Information about the GEO can also be found on our website at www.uigeo.org.

America Needs Jobs Now

--Nov.17. The AFL-CIO is calling on Congress and the Obama administration to take five steps now to care for the jobless and put America back to work.

1. Extend the lifeline for jobless workers.

2. Rebuild America’s schools, roads and energy systems.
3. Increase aid to state and local governments to maintain vital services.
4. Fund jobs in our communities. While workers go without jobs, important work is left undone in our communities.
5. Put TARP funds to work for Main Street.The bank bailout helped Wall Street, not Main Street.
America’s jobs situation would be even more dire without the economic stimulus program President Obama and Congress enacted, which has saved or created 1 million jobs. But the depth of this crisis demands that we do more—and that we do it now, before more people lose their jobs, their homes, their health care and their hope.

Vancouver Public Library: Managers to escape the knife in public library cuts

City of Vancouver eyes job cuts to balance 2010 budget: Parks, fire and library workers expected to get pink slips.


With Vancouver Public Library management first to drop the axe this morning in the City of Vancouver’s 2010 budget cuts, CUPE 391 president Alex Youngberg is wondering why administration is suffering barely a scratch in all the bloodletting.

“From what we were told, these cuts were supposed to be across the board,” said Youngberg, on learning that 24 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions were being eliminated.
“If only one of these is a manager, that’s a pretty bad ratio. We need more direct public services to accommodate our growing, diverse population—not more policy makers. If the VPL wants real savings, they should look at eliminating five managerial positions. That would lower the loss to direct public services to about eight positions rather than the 24 they’re targeting.”

This morning, the VPL released its 2010 budget recommendations to the library board. Among them, the VPL is calling for the closure of the Riley Park Branch and reduced operating hours at up to 14 branches. Central Library public services staffing budgets would be cut by $419,000. Another recommendation would see the VPL slash the Technical Services budget by $360,000 and the Collections budget by $180,000.

There are 32 management positions and three pending exempt positions at the VPL, an increase of 17 over the past two years. All of these positions are administrative and none provides public service.

“There is one manager for every 10 full-time members,” said Youngberg. “Why are they cutting hours and public services but keeping the policy wonks? These positions didn’t have job descriptions when they were filled, so there wasn’t an expressed requirement for them. But the people in them instantly became the library management team. These are drastic cuts to public services when people need these services most.”

Toronto Public Library Workers Union (TPLWU) ratify new collective agreement

Toronto Public Library Workers Union (TPLWU) ratify new collective agreement.

TORONTO, Ont. – The Toronto Public Library Workers Union (TPLWU) CUPE 4948 has ratified their first collective agreement.

“We negotiated a settlement that addressed all of our main issues: full-time jobs, fairness to part-time workers, the quality of public library services and career development opportunities; and, health and safety concerns around violence in the workplace,” said Maureen O’Reilly, chair of the bargaining committee.

“In addition we were able to achieve historic gains in the area of pregnancy and parental leave and a more equitable share of benefits costs for our part-time workers. These gains are especially significant for a female dominated workplace with a bargaining unit of almost 50 per cent part-time workers.”

The 96 per cent ratification vote supports and recognizes those achievements.

"This agreement will provide a strong base for all public library workers across Ontario, and indeed Canada, to move forward with their concerns and get them addressed,” O’Reilly continued. “This will result in a better library service in all of our communities which is so vital for so many Canadians today."

-30-

For further information, contact:

Maureen O’Reilly, Bargaining Chair, CUPE 4948: 647-206-7457

American Folklife Center Announces Fellowship to Honor Archie Green

November 12, 2009
American Folklife Center Announces Fellowship to Honor Archie Green

A fellowship has been created at the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress to honor the memory of Archie Green (1917-2009), the pioneering folklorist who championed the establishment of the center. The Archie Green Fellowship will support new documentation and research into the culture and traditions of American workers and will create digital archival materials that will be preserved in the AFC’s archive and made available to researchers and the public.

The AFC will award up to three fellowships for the period February 2010 – February 2011 that will support original field research into culture and traditions of American workers and/or occupational groups found within the United States. The materials generated during the course of the fellowship will become part of the AFC’s Archie Green America Works Collection.

Applicants must submit proposals to be received by the AFC no later than November 30, 2009. The term of each fellowship will be limited to a period of one year and will be supported with funds up to $45,000.

U.S. citizens are eligible to submit applications for a fellowship to support their original research and documentation on occupational culture. Applicants may include individuals, organizations or groups. Occupational groups, labor unions or organizations may wish to involve folklife researchers for the purpose of undertaking fieldwork projects on their behalf.

For further information, please visit www.loc.gov/folklife/grants.html or call (202) 707-5510.

The Library of Congress, the nation's oldest federal cultural institution, is the world's preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled collections and integrated resources to Congress and the American people. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may also be accessed through the Library’s website, www.loc.gov, and via interactive exhibitions on a personalized website at myLOC.gov.

The American Folklife Center was created by Congress in 1976 and placed at the Library of Congress to "preserve and present American Folklife" through programs of research, documentation, archival preservation, reference service, live performance, exhibition, public programs and training. The center includes the American Folklife Center Archive of folk culture, which was established in 1928 and is now one of the largest collections of ethnographic material from the United States and around the world. For more information, visit www.loc.gov/folklife/.

Graduate Employees' Organization, AFT/IFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Authorize Strike

The Graduate Employees Organization, the union representing teaching assistants and graduate assistants. We are on the verge of calling a strike after months of unproductive bargaining sessions. Help us avoid strike and participate in the phone/email blast as described below. The more the merrier.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Miriam Larson
Date: Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 12:26 PM
Subject: [geo-stewards] FWD WIDELY: ACTION ALERT: Call and Email the UIUC
Administration To: SC

Greetings students, educators, parents and concerned citizens,

I am writing on behalf of the Graduate Employees' Organization, AFT/IFT
Local 6300, AFL-CIO at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
*Please support our effort to secure a living wage and tuition waivers for graduate employees at UIUC.* After months of negotiations and stalling by the University administration, the GEO has voted to authorize a strike as a last resort method of earning a fair contract. You can help GEO* *members and our allies hold the university administration to its stated commitment to excellence in undergraduate education *by making a phone call or sending a quick email*.
We encourage as many people as possible to call the Chair of the Board of
Trustees and the Interim Provost *before the Board of Trustees meeting in
Springfield on Thursday, November 12th.*

More information here.

President Camila Alire letter to Hyatt. 10.5.2009

• 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.

The American Library Association letter from Camila Alire to Phil Stamm of the Hyatt.

Letter in pdf as included at ALA Council discussion list archives. Go here.

Progressive Librarians Guild opposes the actions of the Hyatt Company

Toronto Public Library Agreement Heads Off Strike

CUPE/Libraries



”We are going to have a number of part-time jobs that are going to be converted to full-time jobs over the life of Collective Agreement," said Bargaining committee chair, Maureen O'Reilly," we have a new three-year Collective Agreement which will now expire at Dec. 31, 2011 and we were able to get some significant improvement in benefits to our part-time workers.”

More full-time jobs and better parental leave are part of a tentative agreement between Toronto Public Library and its 2,400 unionized workers--Toronto Public Library Workers Union (TPLWU) CUPE 4948.
The settlement was reached Wednesday, heading off a strike or lockout that could have started Nov. 9.

Details of the agreement between the library and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4948 weren't released before a ratification vote, which will be held some time next week.

Bargaining committee chair Maureen O'Reilly said relying on part-time workers and automated checkouts compromises service for both library workers and patrons. Following the lead of the Good Jobs campaign this summer by the LCBO union, the library union's approach focused on job quality for the female-dominated workforce.

O'Reilly said that part-time workers often juggle multiple jobs while waiting the five or six years it takes to secure a full-time library position. "It's about the nature of the work at Toronto Public Library," she said.

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Wisconsin to Include Labor History in State Social Science Standards

Most people don't remember how crucial labor was in pushing Depression-era politicians to codify the basic features of American working life we now take for granted. Either they don't know any labor history buffs, or they never learned about workers' struggles in school.


That could soon change in Wisconsin, if Democratic Governor Jim Doyle signs a bill requiring the state's Superintendent of Public Instruction to include the history of organized labor and the collective bargaining process in state social studies standards. Teachers draw on those standards as they prepare students for standardized tests.

Doyle has said he will sign the law. The measure passed the Wisconsin Senate on October 27, supported by all Democrats and three Republicans; it had already passed the state's assembly.

Photo: American Labor Museum in the Botto House National Landmark.