Ohio: The Endgame Approaches

Ohio.3/31/2011.


Bill that would strip collective bargaining rights from public employees advances in Ohio’s legislature...The bill passed, 53-44, in the House Wednesday evening. The later Senate concurred, by a 17-16 vote, with 25 amendments that had been added by the House. The legal reasoning used in the bill essentially cites the premise used in NLRB v. Yeshiva University, which applies only to private college professors, and brings it to those working at public universities. The 1980 Supreme Court decision barred faculty members at private colleges from bargaining collectively on the grounds that they enjoyed managerial status because of their role in shared governance.

The American Union and the American Public Library

"Collective Effort:
The American Union and the American Public Library"
Joyce M. Latham and Wyatt E. Ditzler

Library Trends 59, no. 1/2 (Summer/Fall 2010): 237-55.


Abstract

Unions are a significant element in the library work place, yet there is little discussion of their significance or impact. This article investigates the structures of the unions within the public library in the United States, highlighting the complexity of composition, variance of relationships to library administration, and the simplicity of mission of the union leadership. Results of a brief survey enabled researchers to engage four union officers on areas of significance to them. While concerns over salaries and funding continuity generate concern, discussion also engaged on the perceived value of the professional librarian within public libraries.

Organize or Die- Florida Universities-Includes Librarians

“It’s a race against time,” said Tom Auxter, a professor of philosophy at the University of Florida and president of United Faculty of Florida, which represents faculty members [and librarians] at 22 public campuses and is affiliated with the Florida Education Association, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the AFL-CIO. If passed, the three bills would go into effect July 1.

“We’re firing up all the engines to get people signed up,” he said. “The lesson for unions is organize or die.”

More at Inside Higher Education.

Russell Library, Middletown, Conn wins John Sessions Memorial Award

The Russell Library, Middletown, Conn., is the recipient of the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) 2011 John Sessions Memorial Award for their successful Business & Career Programs.

Through their Business and Career Programs, the Russell Library provides 10 to 12 workshops annually that aim to help individuals find jobs or change their careers. Programs include job searching, interview coaching, computer classes and stress reduction during job searching, among other topics. With this programming, the library has done significant outreach to union and community members by providing services of special interest to the labor community, as well as connecting with local organizations to publicize their services to job seekers.

The award committee selected the library as this year’s recipient for these notable efforts that are vital in today’s economic climate and for the value the programs hold for the local labor community.
Read more.

Ohio Collective Bargaining Discussion Led by Melissa Cropper, head of the Georgetown teacher's union and a librarian

State Representative Danny Bubp visited two southern Ohio schools Monday to discuss the merits and concerns about pending state legislation commonly known as Senate Bill 5.

Between 150 to 200 individuals, including several teachers in Brown and Clermont counties, engaged in a town hall-styled discussion with Bubp at Georgetown High School on Monday evening. Bubp, who held a similar meeting attended by an estimated 175 individuals in West Union earlier that day, heard numerous concerns from local residents about the legalisation that, if approved, could eliminate most existing collective bargaining rights for unionized public employees.

Attendees raised several concerns about the bill, including questions about the "merit pay" provisions, concerns about losing the right to strike and dislike for the manner by which state officials have sought to pass the legislation

Bubp was joined by two staffers who researched specific questions about the language and provisions contained within the bill. Melissa Cropper, head of the Georgetown teacher's union and a librarian at Georgetown Exempted Village Schools, helped to organize and moderate the discussion.

John N. Berry III on Wisconsin

"Solidarity in Wisconsin" by John N. Berry III at Library Journal.

Librarians must stand in solidarity with the embattled public employees of Wisconsin as they struggle to hold on to the collective bargaining rights they have earned and won over decades. It is not just simple self-interest that makes their struggle ours, although that would be reason enough to oppose the attack. It is also a matter of our values, our fundamental beliefs. From the early roots of the profession, librarians have been champions of the rights granted to all Americans by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, including “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government....”

read more.

ALISE Statement on Wisconsin PublicEmployees

The Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) commends the action taken by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Library and Information Studies, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Faculty Senate, and others who have shown public support of those standing up for workers' rights. We applaud the support shown for our colleagues in Wisconsin as they seek to protect the right to collective bargaining.

Madison, WI-3.12. 2011: "Librarians! United! Will never be divided!"

Sharon McQueen writes in Library Journal " Wisconsin Librarians' March Merges with Tractorcade" :
A third librarians' march took place on March 12 during what has been a month of daily protests at Wisconsin's State Capitol.
Participating:

Timothy Ericson, past president of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), flew to Wisconsin from Phoenix to participate in the rally for the Wisconsin 14 with his wife, Vallie, a former Wisconsin public school teacher.

American Library Association past president Michael Gorman drafted new lyrics for "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night," entitled "Scott Walker's Nightmare."

Five past presidents of the Wisconsin Library Association (WLA): Alberto Herrera, Terry Danson, Jane Pearlmutter, Nancy McClements, and Paul Nelson.

Christine Jenkins, UW-Madison alumna and associate professor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library and Information Science

;

Melissa Moll, UW-Madison student, School of Library & Information Studies (SLIS)

;

Mark Beatty, librarian of the Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS)

;

Allison Kaplan, faculty associate, UW-Madison, SLIS

;

retired librarian Jean Casper

;

John Elliott, cataloger at Edgewood College in Madison

;

Sheila Leary, director of the University of Wisconsin Press.

Read more.

LSU Union Organizing

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.
The University's fledgling faculty union is rushing to gain members as outside political pressures add urgency to the group's formation.

"Recruiting is our No. 1 priority right now," said Michael Russo, associate librarian and co-chair of the union's membership committee.

Russo said the goal was to get every faculty member involved.

Wisconsin Library Association Endorses Statement in Support of Worker’s Rights to Collectively Bargain

The Wisconsin Library Association Endorses ALA’s Statement in Support of Worker’s Rights to Collectively Bargain and drafted its own.

"Librarians add incredible value to society--" Audrey Barbakoff-Milwaukee Public Library Union Member

"I’m Not Your Scapegoat," by Audrey Barbakoff.
American Libraries.
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 14:36

A unionized librarian refuses to play the dues-paying villain.

---What is not temporary is the effect of the governor’s favorite tactic in the service of this legislation: the vilification of public employees. It’s the old divide-and-conquer routine. By turning private employees against public ones, Walker can break up the largest constituency that might oppose his ideas. It’s a savvy political tactic, but it will cause permanent, irreparable damage for the most educated and hardworking public employees in Wisconsin and throughout the country---read more.

[photo by Sharon McQueen].

Wisconsin Librarians on the March

LIBRARIANS ON THE MARCH! PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY!


Greetings Fellow Librarians, Library Staff, & Library Students!

Over 2 dozen of us marched on Saturday, Feb 26, 2011. 60-plus marched last Sunday (March 6, 2011). This Saturday we will increase our numbers and march again! Let's join the Farmer Labor Tractorcade!

WHAT: Librarian Protest March
WHEN: This Saturday, March 12, 2011. 11:30am
WHERE: Madison Public Library, Central Library steps. 201 W. Mifflin St. Madison, WI

We will gather at 11:30am on the MPL steps and march to the Wisconsin State Capitol where we will march around the square. Keep those clever library signs coming!

Madison's Mayor Dave Cieslewicz joined us this past weekend in support of libraries and library workers. All those who marched with us were treated to a free box lunch by LMN O'Pies:

http://www.lmnopies.com/

Take a look at the new American Libraries article by Milwaukee Public Library's Audrey Barbakoff:
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/my-mind/i-m-not-your-scapegoat

This is history in the making folks! JOIN US!


FYI:
Farmer Labor Tractorcade
Event Date: Saturday, March 12, 2011 - 12:00pm - 2:00pm

Event Website on FaceBook.
Taking place at: Wisconsin State Capitol
Madison, WI

Sponsored by Family Farm Defenders, Wisconsin Farmers Union and Land Stewardship
project.

Farmers from across the dairyland will bring tractors and solidarity to the WI capitol to fight for labor rights and a just state budget. Rural communities will be disproportionately hurt by the cuts to education and BadgerCare, and farmers in Wisconsin stand with state workers, and all working and middle class
families in the state.

All farmers and eaters welcome and encouraged to come!

Holt Labor Library Re-Opens

Message from David Walters, director of the Holt Labor Library.

The Holt Labor Library has re-opened. Closed for a period of almost 2 years due to the capitalist financial crisis, funding for the library re-opening has been secured.

4444 Geary Blvd., Suite 207, San Francisco, CA 94118
415.387.5700
Hours are from 9AM through 4PM, Monday through Friday. Special arrangements outside of these times can be arranged upon request with the Director. Closed on major holidays and May Day.

The Holt Labor Library was established in 1992 to provide a working library for labor and progressive studies accessible to the general public. Our collections and services are geared to labor and community activists as well as to students, researchers and anyone else interested in our materials. Because a significant part of our collection consists of out-of-print and hard to find materials, items do not circulate. The holdings of the Holt Labor Library include:

* Many donations from the estates of ex-members of the SWP
* 4500 books - labor and socialist history, freedom struggles, Marxist theory (with emphasis on Trotskyism), and much more
* 3000 pamphlets, plus flyers and brochures, in our vertical files
* 80 current subscriptions to labor and left periodicals
* 350 videos & DVDs - including movies and documentaries
* 300 audio tapes & CDs of speeches and classes by socialist and labor activists
* Bulletins and papers documenting socialist history in the United
States
* Posters, political and trade-union buttons, and other ephemera
* Personal archives from the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, Anti-Vietnam War organizations, Teamsters for a Democratic Union, Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendants, and others.
* Historic socialist and labor newspapers


David Walters
david [ at]hll.org
Director,
Holt Labor Library
4444 Geary Blvd., Suite 207, San Francisco, CA 94118 415.387.5700
holtlaborlibrary.org
hll.org
holtlibrary.org

“Librarians fight for everyone’s rights”

American Libraries report on
librarians turning out in Madison to support workers' rights.

front row, from left) Carrie Gostomski, Kim Pittman, Alison Gehred, Ellen Barksdale Jacks, and Richard Douglas Wambold.

“We’re the cornerstone of democracy. "-- LA Librarians’ Guild President, Roy Stone. "Yes on L

Los Angeles votes on library funding next week.


Los Angeles city voters decide next week on Tuesday, March 8 whether to set aside more money for public libraries in the city’s charter. Last year, the mayor and City Council slashed spending on the library system to address a big budget deficit. That forced all 76 locations to close two days a week for the first time.

Librarians’ Guild President Roy Stone argues that people shouldn’t regard libraries as just another city department. “We’re the cornerstone of democracy. Without the free public library system, you don’t have that open exchange of information.

Librarians' Guild AFSCME Local 2626
Yes on L.