The clock is officially ticking on a potential strike for workers which could temporarily close Bradford’s library.
On Tuesday morning, the Ontario Ministry of Labour issued a “no-board” notice over the ongoing negotiations between the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library administration and the workers trying to come to their first collective agreement.
The notice means the ministry will not be appointing a board of conciliation to help the parties reach an agreement and started a 17-day countdown to when workers are allowed to strike as of midnight July 21.
“If the employer does not offer a significantly improved deal before July 21, then my expectation is there will be a work stoppage on July 21,” Katherine Grzejszczak, president of CUPE Local 905 said.
The union claims that 75 per cent of Bradford library staff only have access to part-time hours and that 50 per cent of all staff are earning less than a living wage, which they defined as $23.10 per hour.
The Ontario Living Wage Network currently defines a living wage in the organization's Simcoe County region (which also includes Grey-Bruce, Perth and Huron Counties) as $20.70 per hour.
Grzejszczak confirmed that some employees are being “red circled,” meaning they are not eligible for the three-per-cent increase proposed by the administration, they are not eligible for full-time hours and not eligible for health benefits.
According to the union, the administration does not want to agree to health benefits for any part-time employees, and they are also proposing that some employees’ wages remain frozen, with some having been frozen for the last five years and one as long as nine years.
For the union, that is unacceptable.
“We’re not prepared to negotiate a first collective agreement where some of the workers would not even see a wage increase,” Grzejszczak said.
If those sticking points of wages and benefits are not resolved, Grzejszczak expects a full work stoppage at the library, which could go on “for as long as it takes.”
A strike could still be avoided if the parties can reach an agreement during any of the three upcoming bargaining dates: July 17, 20 and 21.
“The town can decide to do the right thing and pay these workers appropriately, offer health benefits, so that they can go to the dentists and settle the contract and avoid a work stoppage,” Grzejszczak said.
July 17 would mark the 26th day of bargaining since negotiations over the collective agreement began in September 2022 after library staff certified as a union in September 2021.
In the almost two years since, Grzejszczak confirmed that more than half of the library staff have left.
“It speaks to how dissatisfied workers are with the way that they’re being treated by this employer, and they’re just dissatisfied with the working conditions. This is why they unionized in the first place and the employer is not able to keep staff given the working conditions,” she said.
The union requested the no-board notice after negotiations “reached an impasse leaving workers no choice but to set the clock ticking toward a work stoppage,” it said in a press release.
That came after the union requested the ministry appoint a conciliation officer on June 21 to help assist with negotiations.
In April, library workers voted “nearly unanimously” to strike if necessary, but at that time, no deadline had been set.
Union members have also been circulating a petition supporting library workers, and while the timing has yet to be determined, the union plans to present the petition to council to encourage them to support the library workers in their ongoing efforts to negotiate their first collective agreement.
In mid-June the petition had more than 300 signatures, but an updated count was not available at the time of publication.
While the collective agreement would be overseen by the town’s library board, the funding for the board and approval of board decisions comes from council.
Library Board members include Licinio Miguelo, chair; Ward 1 Coun. Cheraldean Duhaney, vice chair; Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano; Ferguson Mobbs; Jen Turner; Diana Sheeler and Dillon McDowell.
Questions about the bargaining process are normally handled by Matthew Corbett, library CEO, but he was unavailable and requests were referred instead to Nina Cunniff, deputy CEO and manager of corporate services, who did not return requests for interview in time for publication.
“Our bargaining team is hopeful that a tentative agreement can be reached and that a strike can be avoided,” Licinio Miguelo, chair of the library board said via email.
If an agreement isn’t reached and workers go on strike, he expects that the library will be closed and all in-person services will be cancelled.
“Management will work to ensure digital services continue to be available,” Miguelo said.
