New Jersey Librarians Picket
for Equal Pay
Twenty-one employees at the borough library in Rutherford, New Jersey, continue to spend their lunch hours picketing and handing out fliers calling for pay equal to that of Borough Hall workers.
The library board has offered the staff a 10% average raise, but employees say the offer does not address the parity issue. The starting salary for Borough Hall workers is $12.88 per hour, while a comparable library position pays $7.57, according to the June 14 Bergen Record. Additionally, librarians employed in borough schools earn more than those working in the borough library.
Library workers used to belong to the same union as Borough Hall workers: the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. But in October 1999 they left to form their own independent union to address the salary inequities. They have been picketing for six weeks.
“We’ve had several patrons say they never thought they would see librarians picketing,” said Children’s Librarian Jane Tarantino. “It’s keeping people aware that the situation hasn’t been resolved. The librarians should be paid their worth.”
Posted June 19, 2000.
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