The New York Public Library Guild announced April 16 that librarians in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island voted overwhelmingly to approve a contract giving them a 16% raise this year.
Even though Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s administration had rejected 20% increases sought by the larger teachers’ and police unions, city officials said the boost was necessary to stem the loss of librarians to better-paying suburban systems. Library officials told the April 17 New York Times that half of all new librarians leave NYPL within three years, nearly half the branches in the Bronx do not have children’s librarians, and no new librarians have been hired for Staten Island in over a year.
In productivity increases demanded by the city, librarians agreed to give up two days off a year and daily 20-minute breaks. They will also lose night-shift pay differentials of up to $5 a night. In another concession, the city can now assign newly promoted senior librarians to whichever branch it wants; formerly, they had the option to stay in their current branch.
Librarians in Brooklyn and Queens are negotiating separate contracts.
Posted April 23, 2001.