The Niles-Maine Library Board voted unanimously to approve the first union contract for its staff at its Nov. 15 board meeting.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) represents the library’s 62 workers. As previously reported, the workers voted in June 2021 for the union to represent them amidst concerns that board members who had been seated in May 2021 were enacting dramatic cuts to the library’s budget and programming.
Employees will see immediate raises of 5% to 34%, depending on how long they have been employed at the library, according to a news release from AFSCME Council 31. Raises from 12.5% to 46.5% are also guaranteed over the next three years.
The new contract also allows for four weeks of parental leave, health care options, predictable schedules and a process to resolve disputes between workers and managers, according to Anders Lindall, public affairs director for AFSCME Council 31.
Cate Levinson, a youth services librarian who served on the union’s bargaining committee, said she thinks of the library as a three-legged stool with patrons, administration and staff.
“Without a union, the staff side can be wobbly. With our union, it’ll make the library stronger as a whole,” she said. “With fairer wages and better treatment, the library workers that our community knows and trusts are more likely to stay here.”
The contract also limits the number of employees working under 10 hours a week to three and splits overtime evenly among staff.
The library went through a 19-month hiring freeze that ended in January. During that freeze, the number of employees dropped by nearly a third, from 96 to 66.
Lindall said it took the union 28 months from its introduction to the library to finalizing a contract because of the “hostile board” set in place in 2021. He said that board, with Carolyn Drblik as president, created a “hostile work environment” that put the hiring freeze in motion and drove away employees.
Lindall said the contract was able to move forward after Trustee Umair Qadeer was appointed to the board for the second time
More Top Picks What Is A Leaky Heart Valve
by the Secretary of State’s office.That broke the 3-3 deadlock between the faction of trustees intent on slashing the library’s budget and those who wanted to end the hiring freeze and restore spending on building maintenance. The two factions had endured discord and shouting matches for 16 months over their differences.
At the vote, Drblik, a board member but no longer the president, said she was happy with the AFSCME agreement because it addressed all of the wage levels and provided staff fair compensation. Drblik had questioned the union’s integrity at some points early on in the process.
Drblik also said that the new union’s procedures could affect library operations, impact services, and increase costs. “However, I believe this can be prevented by administrative monitoring,” she said. “I am confident that in the future, a knowledgeable and experienced board of trustees with a highly qualified executive director could provide a sustainable library, balancing the needs of our staff while protecting our residents from excessive costs and wasteful spending.”