California state workers strike averted, contract vote January 4-17

State employees in California, SEIU Local 1000, which counts library workers among its 95,000 members, voted to strike in November if a tentative contract agreement was not reached.  One has been, and it will be voted on in the upcoming weeks.  Main sticking points in negotiations were salary increases, a demand from Gov. Brown that workers pay larger percentage in retirement benefits, civil service reform, and gender pay disparities.

http://www.seiu1000.org

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article114965863.html

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article109176237.html

Pay Equity for New Brunswick School Library Workers

School library workers, educational assistants, administrative assistants, and intervention workers in the New Brunswick education system will be receiving pay equity increases after an evaluation found that these female-dominated positions had lower salaries in comparison to other positions. The workers, represented by CUPE Local 2745, will receive back pay for the past four years and additional increases over the next six years.

Pay Equity Payout for Peterborough Public Library Workers

Women workers at Peterborough Public Library are set to receive a payout totaling $845,400 in a pay equity settlement after the completion of a review comparing their wages to those of men in male-dominated jobs with the city. The library workers are represented by CUPE Local 1833.

Pay Equity Ruling for Ottawa Public Library

The Ottawa Public Library has been ordered to increase wages and make retroactive pay equity adjustments for its employees, represented by CUPE 503. Other employees of the City of Ottawa have been receiving higher wages than library employees after an arbitration award, and the Pay Equity Commission has ruled that library employees, members of a "female-dominated" occupation, should have received the same wages and wage increases.

The union filed the original appeal in 2008. Payments are retroactive to 2005.

Gains for Saskatoon Library Workers

Although Saskatoon Public Library workers reached an agreement this week and will receive retroactive payments to cover pay increases dating back to 2010, bargaining will resume because the agreement only covers the period ending March 31, 2013.

$1 Million Pay Equity Settlement

Over 80 current and former Windsor Public Library employees will be sharing in a $1 million pay equity settlement. The payments are retroactive to 2005. Windsor Public Library employees are members of CUPE 2067.

Pay Increase for Female Faculty at UBC

Female faculty members at the University of British Columbia received a two per cent pay increase, starting February 28, after UBC's Equity Office determined that they were being paid an average of $3,000 less than male faculty members.

Librarians at UBC were not included in the salary increase because a faculty association review found no evidence of pay inequity.