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Vancouver Library Staff Serve as They StrikeFive weeks into a strike over pay equity issues that city officials say could continue for months, Vancouver (B.C.) Public Library staff are keeping busy on the picket line with music, lectures, and public service. “It’s very difficult to take the library out of the library worker,” union President Alex Youngberg said in the August 23 Vancouver Sun. Staffer Todd Wong has entertained fellow members of CUPE Local 391 by performing on his accordian, and he has organized performances or readings by poets, choirs, and authors. “People are more than willing to come and perform for our picketers,” Wong said. “They have an appreciative audience that’s cultural and literate.” A group of striking staffers has knit more than 80 hats, which will be donated to needy residents or sold to raise money for charity. Others are using cell phones and laptop computers to answer reference questions from passersby. And two workers, D’Arcy Stainton and James Gemmill, have each made a series of videos on the strike, accessible from the union’s website. City spokesperson Jerry Dobrovolny said the city and the library union were far apart and the strike could last longer than the 6–8 weeks expected of a city strike. “While I can’t speculate on how long this one will now last, I can say that this one isn’t typical,” he said in the August 20 Sun. Dobrovolny said that in a proposal the city received August 17, the union significantly increased its demands beyond the original 17.5% raise over five years. The proposal included an additional 9% increase to pay equity and job evaluations, plus an extra 4.25% for 100 librarians. Ed Dickson, chief negotiator for Local 391, said that the union’s proposal was virtually the same as its original demand, but that it put numbers on its pay equity and job evaluation demands for the first time. Posted August 24, 2007. |
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