Early in the morning of Jan. 25, workers at University of Washington Libraries and UW Press reached a deal with the university administration, minutes before they planned to start a strike. After 16 months of tense negotiations and 38 rounds of bargaining — including a marathon 20-hour session that stretched into the wee hours of the morning of the deadline — the tentative agreement brought relief and joy to many librarians.
Maggie Faber, an assessment and data visualization librarian at UW, said she was glad that the labor dispute was finally coming to an end. After an exhausting all-nighter spent bargaining, she attended a noon celebration rally organized by her union, SEIU 925, outside UW’s Suzzallo Library.
“I feel overwhelmed. I am really proud of the work that my colleagues put in over the past 16 months — more with the union certification process — and I think that we arrived at a contract that will make our lives better and will really make a difference for people who need it,” Faber said. “This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and it was a long and intense night. I’m very emotional about it, but I’m also really proud.”
Librarians were joined by other unions, activists and supportive musical groups who expressed solidarity with their cause and celebrated their win together.
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