Posted May 21, 2004.

Cleveland Public Library and Staff Agree to Arbitration

The union representing Cleveland Public Library employees has agreed to binding arbitration in its contract dispute, averting a threatened strike. A three-member fact-finding panel will consist of a representative from the union, one from the library, and a third person jointly selected by the union and library, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported May 17.

“We’ve been negotiating since December, and we felt we achieved what we could at the table,” said Ryan Moore, steward of the Service Employees International Union Local 1199, which represents 407 of the system’s 735 workers.

“We are very pleased,” CPL Head of Human Resources Sharon Tufts told the newspaper. “This is positive for our staff and for the community.”

The library is seeking staff concessions in health care, leave, transfers, and outsourcing. The union wants annual salary increases of about 4% over the next three years; management has offered just 2% a year. A one-day strike April 20 shut down 19 of the system’s 28 branches and curtailed services at the Main Library and nine branches.

Posted May 21, 2004.