Update December 2013

CHRISTMAS EVE HOURS -NEGOTIATED BY THE GUILD:
 
By now you should be aware that the Librarians’ Guild and Management have agreed to the following terms about December 24th:
(1) All branches and Central Library will be open to the public 10:00-1:00.
(2) Staff wishing to leave at 1:10 can make up the time during that week or use VC.
(3) Staff who want to work an 8-hour day on Christmas Eve can remain in their agency under the following circumstances: (a) there are at least two employees wishing to remain, and (b) one of these employees is a librarian.  Otherwise they must work at another agency that does have the appropriate staffing.
 
WATER LOGGED AT CENTRAL: NO PAY UNLESS YOU HAVE VC?!
Due to a water main problem on October 29, management was compelled to shut Central Library at 4:00p.m. However, staff members were not given the usual choice to be redeployed to another agency. Instead, they were told to take VC, make up the time in the remaining four days of the pay period or request work furlough.  This didn’t sit very well with many of those affected and with the Guild or with the Clerical Union (Local 3090). The Guild is currently working on a group grievance to challenge management’s action and to be sure this does not happen again.
Note: when another water problem occurred, oddly enough, one week later, management, to its credit, did offer the staff the opportunity to complete the day’s shift at other locations, along with the other choices previously listed. At our urging, management has also collected requests for preferred reassignments, in the event a closure happens again.
 
FINALLY FULL-TIME: NEW HIRES!
The Guild’s #1 goal for 2013 was to press hard for management to recognize the importance of adding new full-time librarian positions, including allowing current half time librarians the opportunity to interview for full-time positions (and for full-time librarians to go half-time, if they so desired). We advocated for this to Management at every possible opportunity, at Library Board of Commissioners Meetings and at City Hall for most of this year. At last, our goal has been realized with the Fall transfer sheet and the recent new full-time hires! We will continue to advocate for appropriate staffing in the post-Measure L era.
 
HEALTH AND SAFETY:
We have communicated our serious concerns about library branches losing dedicated “roving” Security Service Officers (they were sent to Central Library due to a staffing shortage). Management has dedicated funds to hire more roving officers for branches in the upcoming library budget, but City Council and the Managed (un) Hiring Committee must ultimately grant approval. In the New Year, we will call on all of you to visit City Council chambers with us during budget hearings to make sure that the Councilmembers understand the importance of this hiring for all staff and library patrons.
 
Guild representatives on the joint Labor/Management Health and Safety Committee have received reports from about 10 branches with serious telephone problems, including not being able to transfer calls from the Circulation Desk to the Reference Desk, or not being able to call the workroom from the public desks. This is clearly a safety problem.
About a dozen branches reported that they had problems with patrons placing their used toilet paper on the restroom floors rather than flushing it down. As a result, these branches have received trashcans to place in the restroom stalls, and the problem has been resolved.

BLAST FROM THE LIBRARIANS’ GUILD PAST:
May 8th, 1985: Librarians (and Guild officers) Fontayne Holmes and Harriet Newton (front row, left to right) join Mayor Tom Bradley and others to celebrate a major victory for pay equity in the City of Los Angeles. Minutes before, the Librarians’ Guild and Clerical Union signed a 3-year contract with significant salary adjustments for the two female dominated classifications. As Mayor Bradley announced, “”This is a historic step. Without a legal battle or costly study, we will achieve pay equity among men and women who work for this city. We will send a message to all cities across this country.”