Barnet Library Workers Strike in Protest of Plans for Unstaffed Libraries

Barnet Council library workers are on strike once again in continued protest of planned changes to library services and staff hours. The council is facing serious budget cuts, and in response has plans to keep libraries open to the public without library staff present. They hope to accomplish this by staffing the libraries with volunteers and installing self-service equipment as well as security cameras. Children under the age of 15 years will be unable to make use of these unstaffed locations unless accompanied by an adult. Barnet Council hopes these measures will save  £2.85 million.

Six of Barnet's library branches were closed this week as a result of the strike. Barnet library workers are represented by UNISON.

Accusation of Union Busting in Newfoundland

The Canadian Union of Public Employees has accused the government of Newfoundland and Labrador of union busting in response to recently announced changes to library services. Fifty-four of the provinces' public library branches are slated to close over the next two years, resulting in sixty employees losing their jobs. The education minister recently announced that volunteers and student workers may be asked to staff school libraries during the evenings in order to provide some services to the communities left without a public library branch. Dawn Lahey, head of CUPE Local 2329, said: 

What a slap in the face to someone. Not only union busting, but it's a slap in the face to someone who's given their life to that library.

Petition Against Proposal for Volunteer-Run Libraries

Leicestershire County Council is looking for volunteers to take over thirty-six of its library branches in a bid to save money by reducing the number of paid library staff. Unison has launched a petition against this plan, with a spokesperson stating "This will certainly restrict access to libraries".

Blog news & news from England

First off, I'm pleased to announce that the blog has a new contributor: Sarah Barriage.  Sarah will be posting news items regularly and will take over completely in the new year as I step down.  Welcome, Sarah, and thanks for your efforts!

Second, library workers in Maidenhead, England (just west of London), are expressing concern over plans to extend library hours to Sunday.  The workers are members of UNISON and are questioning whether or not those who work on Sundays will be paid over-time, as used to be the case for working on Saturdays.  There are also concerns over potential plans to use volunteers to staff the library on Sundays.

Fresno County librarians scab their own strike

The Fox affiliate in Fresno County is reporting that librarians in the Fresno County Library system are actually scabbing their own strike, with the help of volunteer scabs mentioned in the previous post.  According to the report, "16 of the county's 34 libraries stayed open thanks to union workers who did report to work and volunteers."

So this is not just a management ploy; union library workers themselves are undermining their union and the labor movement as a whole by crossing the picket line to keep libraries open while SEIU brothers and sisters are out on strike.  Perhaps this is a misguided attempt to keep everyone happy and is being done with good intentions, but we all know what the road to hell is paved with.

I sent emails to the Fresno County Library system yesterday and was referred to the County Chief Administrative Officer (I haven't heard back from that person, though).  I also sent a message to the executive of SEIU Local 521 about this situation and have not heard from them at all.  I encourage anyone reading this to ask SEIU Local 521 why their members are scabbing this strike and what role the union administration is playing in this undermining of the labor movement.

Fresno County Library actively recruiting scabs

Fresno County (California) Library has apparently lost its collective mind and any semblance of solidarity by actively recruiting volunteer scabs to run the library in the event of an SEIU strike.  The potential strike would not just be by library workers but by thousands of county workers. It is unclear if SEIU members are actively recruiting scabs or if it's solely management, though.

Furthermore, what kind of person would scab for free?  A scab, as Jack London noted, is a "two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a water brain, a combination backbone of jelly and glue" but it's commonly known that their primary motivation is selfish profit.  So what does that say about a person willing to scab for free?

I encourage anyone reading this to contact Fresno County Library employees Roberta Barton at 559-600-6274, roberta.barton@fresnolibrary.org or Susan Mann at 559- 600-6224, susan.mann@fresnolibrary.org to ask them why they are acting like scab-herders against their own library.  You could also contact SEIU 521 to see if the rest of the union is aware of this plan.

Troy (New York) Library Closure

The Sycaway branch of the Troy Library has now been shut down but according to this article, there is a campaign to keep the branch open with limited hours and be operated by volunteers.  While library closures should be fought by both library workers and the communities which they serve, the use of volunteers to run libraries also sets a disturbing precedent that allows municipal administrators to attack public services in the name of budget restraint while foisting the responsibility to operate services on the public.  Not to mention the potential for using volunteers as a method to undermine unions and drain resources that should be given to professional staff.  And of course, there is the issue that labour should be compensated and should not be expected to be given for free in order to operate a public service.

That's my take on it, anyway.  Thoughts?