Press Release: After 28 months, CUPE library workers serve strike notice in Regina
REGINA: CUPE 1594 members at the Regina Public Library served their employer with the required 48-hour strike notice today, after waiting more than 28 months for a fair contract offer from the library board.
“We are very disappointed in the library board’s refusal to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair agreement,” says CUPE 1594 President Debbie Mihial.
The 180 library workers, most of whom are women, have not had a wage increase since 2009.
During conciliation talks last month, the library board presented a so-called “final offer” and cancelled additional talks with conciliator Doug Forseth.
The library board continues to insist CUPE 1594 members accept monetary concessions, including a proposal for employees to work longer hours on Sundays for reduced wages. The board also wants to cut health and dental benefits for new part-time employees at the library.
Although city council appoints members to the library board, the city rebuffed a request by CUPE 1594 to make a presentation to council at Monday’s meeting.
The union wanted to talk to council about the deleterious effect the contract dispute is having on library patrons and staff. (Click here to read CUPE 1594’s presentation to city council.)
CUPE 1594 members will be in a legal strike position at 5 p.m. on Sunday, but Mihial said library workers do not want to disrupt library services.
“Our goal is to pressure the employer to return to the bargaining table and conclude a fair contract settlement.”
Quotes of RPL Board Chair, Darlene Hincks
- “Every negotiation is different and this one is just taking a little bit longer than normal. Hopefully we can continue negotiating in good faith from both sides and hopefully we will have an agreement,” – April 9, 2012 (Global) 5 days after the Employer cancelled conciliation talks and gave the Union their “final offer”
- “We’re really trying to encourage people to purchase tickets in the last couple of days so that we can in fact keep jobs in the branches and keep the branches going and bring them up to what they need to be – we’re committed to that” - April 30, 2012 (Leader Post) 11 days after Jeff Barber’s CTV interview in which he indicated that the lottery money would be used for restoring branches (renovation and replacement)
- “As the chair of the board, I’m really confident that we will have an agreement in the near future”, however when pressed as to how this will happen when the sides are not talking she said “We have gone through the discussions. We have gone through a process… There will be a resolution, but I’m not going to talk about how we get to that resolution in the media. I’m just confident that we will have an agreement” – April 30, 2012
As of today, May 9, 2012 the Employer has not contacted the Union to resume negotiations, which is the process that is used to reach a new collective agreement.
These interesting statements make one wonder if the Board Chair is as informed as she should be regarding funding for the operational budget of the Regina Public Library, or if she is aware that negotiation discussions are not currently taking place.
“100th Anniversary of RPL Central Library” Celebration
Long Live the Regina Public Library!
One Hundred Years ago….on May 11, 1912….
“His Honour the Lieutenant –Governor had very kindly consented to hand over the building formally to the citizens, as a gift of Mr. Carnegie, and to declare it open. (…) A large and interested audience gathered in the lecture room and the adjoining rotunda for the ceremony, and afterwards examined the building. In the meantime, the members of staff were at their posts and the circulation of books was at once resumed.” (1912 RPL Annual Report)
The Friends of the Regina Public Library invite the citizens of Regina, Library workers, and the Library Board to join them, in front of Central Library, to celebrate 100 years of Regina Central Library at this very location.
Friday, May 11, 2012. 12 Noon
Central Library, 2311 12th Ave.
Let us all joyously celebrate Central Library and its history: 50 years of the old Carnegie Library, on the site, followed by 50 years of the current Modernist Central Library.
Turn of the 20th Century or Mid-Century hats and costumes encouraged! Musical Instruments also welcome! Join the celebration and have a piece of birthday cake!
For more information, email: frpl@sasktel.net, phone – 535-9570, website – www.friendsofrpl.ca
Regina Leader-Post: “Contract 28 Months Overdue”
Just a reminder: we are now collecting coverage of events at Regina Public Library in the new Media section of this web site.
But we will still occasionally highlight some of the coverage we receive that is particularly noteworthy like this recent front page story from the Regina Leader-Post:
The Leader-Post (Regina)
Mon Apr 30 2012
Page: A1 / Front
Section: News
Byline: Pamela Cowan
Source: Leader-PostTo draw notice to their overdue contract, a small group of public library employees held an information picket line in front of the Library Home Lottery House in Harbour Landing on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re here today at the lottery house to publicize the fact that our contract is 28 months overdue and to encourage the public to contact the library board and tell them to settle this contract,” said Debbie Mihial, president of CUPE Local 1594. “It’s been a very long time in coming.”
The 180 library workers have been without a new collective agreement since Dec. 31, 2009.
Darlene Hincks Joehnck, chair of the Regina Public Library (RPL) Board, acknowledged the union’s right to picket where it chooses, but questioned why library employees targeted the home lottery house. She noted that funds from lottery ticket sales are used to improve library branches and paid for the Prince of Wales branch to be built.
“As a board, we’re really trying to encourage people to purchase tickets in the last couple of days so that we can in fact keep jobs in the branches and keep the branches going and bring them up to what they need to be – we’re committed to that,” Hincks Joehnck said.
When asked if library employees held an information picket line outside the house to dissuade the public from buying lottery tickets, Mihial said that was not the case.
“Today is the last Saturday of the home lottery (ticket) sales and so we thought this would be a good time to come out,” she said. “If we had wanted to discourage ticket sales, we would have been here earlier … We’re very happy that people support the public library. We know that people love the public library and we’re just asking them to support the workers that work at the public library.”
Contract talks broke down earlier this month.
Representatives from the RPL presented a “final offer” on April 4, the first of two scheduled days of conciliation meetings. With a final offer in place, the RPL then cancelled the meeting on April 10.
Under the Trade Union Act, there is no legal obligation for members to vote on the final offer until after 30 days of a strike action, said Guy Marsden, a spokesman with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
“Our members are not satisfied with that final offer,” he said Saturday.
The union wants to resume contract talks to hammer out a better deal.
“We’ve been trying to send a strong message to them that their concessions are not acceptable to us and that they need to come back with something that is much more reasonable,” Mihial said.
Hincks Joehnck said the “final offer” was final.
When asked how an agreement can be achieved when the two sides aren’t talking, Hincks Joehnck responded: “As the chair of the board, I’m really confident that we will have an agreement in the near future.”
When pressed about the logistics of reaching an agreement, Hincks Joehnck replied: “We have gone through the discussions. We have gone through a process … There will be a resolution, but I’m not going to talk about how we get to that resolution in the media. I’m just confident that we will have an agreement.”
The library employees plan to continue with their public campaign, but a strike isn’t out of the question.
On April 2, library workers voted 82.7 per cent in favour of possible strike action if a deal couldn’t be reached.
“We do have a strike mandate from our members, but we would prefer that they came back to the table and bargain with us because we know how important the libraries are and we don’t want to cut services to the public at the libraries,” Mihial said. “But, in the end, if we have to do that, that is something we will need to do.”
Library workers last went on strike in 2002.
Lottery, Luck & Leaflets
CUPE public library workers spent Saturday afternoon outside the Library Home Lottery House looking not for Lady Luck, but for the Board to return to the bargaining table.
Library workers handed out leaflets at the lottery home to remind the library management and board that a fair contract offer is long overdue.
Although the people viewing the lotto home were low in number, most took leaflets away and many expressed support for the workers. One young fellow stopped and asked if he could take a photo of the group as his parents were strong union supporters.
“It’s not luck or lottery winnings that will improve things for library workers,” said CUPE 1594 president Debbie Mihial. “We need the board to do the right thing and resume conciliation talks.”
Mihial noted that the library board cancelled conciliation talks earlier this month and have refused to return to the bargaining table.
“That’s the only place a resolution to this protracted contract dispute will be found,” she said.
The 180 public library workers, members of CUPE 1594, have been without a contract now for 28 months and are still waiting for a fair offer from the library board. They voted 83 per cent in support of taking job action to support their efforts to achieve a settlement.
Media Advisory: Regina library workers to leaflet at Library Home Lottery House
What: CUPE library workers to leaflet at Library Home Lottery House
When: Saturday, April 28, 2012
Time: 12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Where: 4682 Padwick Crescent, Harbour Landing
Regina: CUPE public library workers will be leafleting outside the Library Home Lottery House tomorrow, April 28, from 12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. The house is located at 4682 Padwick Crescent in Regina’s Harbour Landing.
The 180 public library workers, members of CUPE 1594, still have not seen a fair contract offer from the library board – 28 months after their last contract expired.
Library workers are leafleting at the lottery home to remind the library management and board that a fair contract offer is long overdue, noted CUPE 1594 President Debbie Mihial.
“In previous years, CUPE library workers could be relied on to purchase home lotto tickets, but it’s difficult this year because our members haven’t had a wage increase since 2009,” Mihial stated.
The library board cancelled conciliation talks earlier this month and have refused to return to the bargaining table.
Mihial emphasized the need for the employer to resume conciliation talks. “That’s the only place a resolution to this protracted contract dispute will be found,” she said.
CUPE 1594 members voted 83 per cent in support of taking job action on April 2 to support their efforts to achieve a settlement. The information leaflet at the lottery home tomorrow does not involve job action.
Some Weekend Reading For Our Visitors
In the past few months, there has been an increasing amount of media coverage of events at the library including the unsettled contract situation with CUPE 1594, unanswered questions about the plans for a new Central library, unhappy patrons writing letters to the editor to express frustration with the current administration.
We have added a new Media section to this web site to collect these stories in one place.
Call for CUPE 1594 Members To Attend Next RPL Board Meeting – Tuesday April 24, 4:30 p.m., Central Library
The Friends of the Regina Public Library (FRPL) are encouraging as many people as possible to attend upcoming RPL Board meetings.
FRPL hopes to pressure the Library Board to answer questions about their plans for a new Central Branch.
The next board meeting is on Tuesday, April 24 at 4:30 p.m.
If you are available to attend, we hope it will also show the RPL Board that CUPE members are also paying attention to current developments at the library.
Anything else you can do to spread the word is much appreciated.
Thanks so much!
Janet Szliske
Friends of Regina Public Library
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Ethicist Uncertain Public Favours City Tax Dollars for SK Political Dinners
NewsTalk 980 has followed up an earlier story about RPL Board Members and top administrators using taxpayer dollars to attend political fundraisers with another story which looks at the ethics of these types of activities as well as how these revelations might be perceived by the public.
Professor Michael Atkinson concedes that the use of expense accounts to pay for such events may not have been frowned on in the past. But he says as times change.
Alberta has outlawed political donations by publicly-funded organizations.
In Saskatoon, there are stricter expense reimbursements.
Atkinson says those moves are proof that public acceptance is now less welcoming of this sort of spending.
One thing is certain. The members of CUPE 1594 who have been without a contract for over two years are disappointed to hear that tax dollars which could go towards settling their long overdue contract are being used so that top level people at RPL can attend expensive fundraising dinners with no evidence that these provide direct benefit to the library.
Negotiations for a new collective agreement between CUPE Local 1594 and the RPL did not begin until August 2010, over seven months after the expiry of the current agreement. In contrast, other Regina municipal locals with the same contract expiry dates had already reached settlements with their employer by October 2010. 
