What the union wants, Local 1857 President Cindy Richardson, a KCLS catalog librarian, told the December 1 King County Journal, is a “legally enforceable labor contract that addresses working conditions.” The apparent negotiation stumbling blocks include how employees are disciplined or fired, layoffs that are not based on seniority, the manner in which labor-dispute appeals are handled, the amount of time for breaks, and staff involvement in library policy changes. “The thing that is puzzling to us is the fact that we are asking for very straightforward employees’ rights,” Richardson added.
KCLS Director Bill Ptacek maintained that negotiations are going fine, with new talks scheduled later in the month. “I thought we were moving along pretty well,” he said indicating that the board of trustees is “very interested” in negotiating a contract.
Local 1857, formed one year ago, represents 550 librarians in 48 libraries and other work sites in the publicly financed KCLS.
Posted Decmber 8, 2003.