I arrived at the Library Square picket line just before noon today, as I had spent the morning in a picket captains orientation meeting. Some of my co-workers were wondering if there had been a misprint in the Georgia Straight because I couldn't possibly have worked in the library for 30 years. Todd couldn't be that old!
I explained that I had actually started working for the library in uetero, while my mother was working in the library catalogue department, before I was born. Officially, I joined the Vancouver Public Library staff when I was 15 years old, back in 1975.
Today, the Georgia Straight published a news story, Boss and union tell different tales, about the library strike containing an interview with me and a picture from my website. The picture shows myself with fellow picket captain Alexis Greenwood, smiling with city librarian Paul Whitney, while on the picket line on Monday. We have the friendliest picket line - we don't try to block anybody. I have known Paul for many many years...
Even though he is library management and our Union bargaining committee has to talk tough with him and the library bargaining representatives, I would prefer to get along with everybody. We still have to go back to work with management when the strike is over - the city negotiating team doesn't. Paul told me personally, "It's not about you and me, there are bigger things at play."
Hmmm... maybe this explains why our formal employer "Vancouver Public Library Board" had an in-camera meeting last night but have been conspicuously absent from advocating for the library. Many of the CUPE 391 picketers are now sporting picket signs that say "Where is the Library Board?"
see Boss and union tell different tales - Georgia Straight
Boss and union tell different tales
Here are the interview bits from me:
Todd Wong, a 30-year employee, told the Straight in a phone interview that the closure of the library will mean that fewer Vancouver residents will learn about the 100th anniversary of the anti-Asian riots in Vancouver in September. (See page 15 for more information.) He said that people can't check e-mail at the library and they don't have access to ESL programs in many of the branches.
"At the end of July, I noticed that the Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra had to cancel one of their programs," Wong said. "They do incredible work."
Wong, a community and cultural activist, said public librarians are paid less than their counterparts in the corporate and academic sectors, adding that he can't understand why the City won't agree to mediation. "Obviously, there seems to be a hidden agenda," Wong claimed, noting that the City has hired a public-relations company called the Wilcox Group to handle communications during the strike.
Whitney said the union "booked out of mediation" in July when it served strike notice. "The City is our primary funder, so it's logical we would be consulting closely with them on the movements in our negotiations," he said. "And the issue around mediation, I'm assuming, would be discussed in the context of all three city locals."
Here are the interview bits CUPE President Alex Youngberg:
Alex Youngberg, president of CUPE Local 391, described Whitney's comment as "insane" and "downright outrageous" in a phone interview with the Straight. "He's not giving librarians a very good reputation as far as math goes," she added.
Youngberg claimed that the union's last offer, including provisions for pay equity, would work out to a 29.5-percent increase in wages and benefits over a nine-year period if the city granted every aspect of the package. She said that the union has "trimmed back" its request for benefits, and is only seeking coverage for eye examinations, laser surgery, and composite dental fillings because of problems associated with mercury fillings.
She claimed that the city has already saved more than $1.4 million by not paying unionized staff during the strike. That contrasts with only one percent of payroll, or about $200,000 per year, that she said would be allocated for pay equity. In addition, Youngberg emphasized that this $200,000 per year would only be forthcoming if the union could prove that female workers were not being paid the same as male city employees for work of equal value.
"In Burnaby, their council was actually in favour of them having pay equity and they urged the employer to comply with giving…internal equity," she said.
