UWO Librarian Strike Ends As Both Sides Ratify New Agreement

Despite the administration's current statement on the value of librarians, it has previously drawn fire for saying that "[a]ll services to students will carry on as usual" during the strike. In a September 15 post to the Canadian Library Association listserv, UWO library school professor Sam Trosow wrote, "[O]ne wonders...if all services can carry on as usual without the professional library staff, why do we need a professional library staff?...Libraries without librarians (and archives without archivists) is hardly business as usual."

The University of Western Ontario (UWO) Board of Governors and the UWO Faculty Association Librarians and Archivists (UWOFA-LA) bargaining unit announced today that they have ratified a new collective agreement, in which the 51 librarians and archivists represented by UWOFA-LA will receive a 1.5 percent base salary increase each year for four years. The agreement ends a strike by the librarians and archivists that began on September 8, the first day of classes at UWO, which is located in London, ON, Canada.