As Strike Drags On, Vancouver Library Still Closed

Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 08/10/2007

For more than two weeks, library staffers and other municipal workers have been striking in Vancouver, BC, shutting down the 22-branch Vancouver Public Library system for the first time ever. Yesterday, after six days of bargaining, the three striking unions lifted their media blackout, charging that the city had "lowballed" its offer for a five-year contract and otherwise wouldn’t negotiate fairly regarding benefits, job security, and scheduling, according to today's Vancouver Sun.

"There really hasn't been any bargaining," Donn Stanley, regional director of CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees), told the Sun. Another official said that workers in nearby municipalities were getting much better deals. City spokesman Jerry Dobrovolny, however, said that the benefits package demanded by the locals was larger than in neighborhing jurisdictions. "Frankly, we're frustrated and we're angry now that CUPE has turned its back on a chance to resolve this strike," he told the newspaper.

"We are extremely frustrated," Alex Youngberg, president of Vancouver’s library workers, CUPE 391, said in a statement. "The employer has clearly stated that they have no interest in negotiating any of our key issues, like pay equity. This is despite recently ratified pay equity gains made in Burnaby. We can’t reach a collective agreement with this kind of stonewalling." Here’s a video of the library workers’ read-in and other protests. A rally at City Hall was scheduled for today.