Brooklyn, Queens and NYPL Face LayOffs.

Eileen Muller, President President, Local 1482 Brooklyn Public Library reports that Local 1482 (Brooklyn Public Library) is facing a 'lay-off notice ' of 106 to 363 staffers, Queens Public Library has already sent out 400 lay-off notices to Local 1321 members and Local 1930, New York City Public Library numbers could be as high as 600, that's almost 1,000 library workers in the NYC library systems. The union, DC37 and all three library locals are working hard with city council to try to improve the library budgets.

LA Librarians Stand in Solidarity

Librarians in the audience stood in silent solidarity.

Los Angeles is facing a deficit of close to $500 million; on Friday the City Council held a special meeting to present the report of the budget and finance committee.

Finally, at 11 a.m., 10 union representatives were allowed to speak. Each was given two minutes -- all others who had signed up would have just one minute. First, firefighters pleaded their case. Then Roy Stone, president of the library guild, did the same for libraries, noting that 40,000 people had signed a Save the Library petition (full disclosure: I've signed it) as librarians in the audience stood in silent solidarity.

Economy Track: An Interactive Look at the U.S. Labor Market

From the Economic Policy Institute http://epi.org

"Economy Track: An Interactive Look at the U.S. Labor Market"
Launched in October 2009, Economy Track provides the tools to track the recession and unemployment crisis, with the option of focusing specifically on trends by state, race/ethnic group, gender, occupation, and education level. Bringing together up-to-date and historic data, this site also provides important context by comparing the current economic downturn to past recessions. All of the data and methodology underlying Economy Track’s graphs are downloadable and fully sourced, with some data available exclusively from this new Economic Policy Institute resource.

Boycott Hyatt-ALA Midwinter 2010-Action & Discussion

Boston Hyatt & SRRT's Right to Assemble — Miguel Figueroa, Interim Director of OLOS, spoke to Action Council about the current SRRT list discussion regarding the employee dispute at the Boston Hyatt and SRRT's right to assemble...
Discussion ensued regarding the fact that ALA says what SRRT is not allowed to do, but the lawyers do not explain what SRRT should do to accomplish our goals. Action Council members asked for a list of things that can be done. Al Kagan produced the 2001 SRRT Resolution on ALA and the Marriott Boycott which called for SRRT to participate in the Marriott Boycott. ALA Council did not pass that resolution, but SRRT and ALA Council members picketed and there was no talk of restraint of trade. In this case of the Boston Hyatt, however, SRRT was prevented from taking any boycott action at the Action Council meetings by the ALA Executive Board.

Again, the One Voice policy was disputed as nonexistent. A request was made to produce the policy or stop referring to it.

Library workers avoid layoffs in Hamden CT

HAMDEN Public Library — Library employees have ratified an agreement that includes furlough days, but eliminates the need to lay off any workers at the three libraries.

Larry Dorman, a spokesman for Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said Friday that a majority of the library system’s 38 employees unanimously approved the agreement Thursday.

Read more.

Defense of Librarians filed by Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers

A group of school librarians contends that Pittsburgh Public Schools is making serious cuts in its library and information literacy programs, and implementing staff reductions in other areas, that ultimately will undermine the district's principle of excellence for all students.

"Research has shown a direct positive correlation between school libraries, learning and test scores. The fact that nine Pittsburgh Public Schools have no teacher-librarians to teach information literacy demonstrates both inequitable opportunities for students ... and a cause for concern for [school district] stakeholders," states a 29-page memorandum compiled by the librarians.

Read more.

Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.

Mary Kay Henry, SEIU- A Powerful woman in progressive politics.

Mary Kay Henry, upset winner in the race to take over the SEIU, is about to become one of the most powerful women in progressive politics.