With news of Bradford’s library reopening on Wednesday afternoon and staff being sent back to work, there was a distinct sense of calm surrounding council last night.
Unlike the energetic union rallies that had attracted dozens in support of striking library workers to each meeting since Aug. 1, only a handful of workers and supporters gathered in the shade for a quiet meeting on the lawn in front of the Bradford and District Memorial Community Centre on Tuesday night.
Bradford West Gwillimbury Library workers had been on strike since July 21, when negotiations over their first collective agreement came to a head, but the strike came to end after 71 days on Friday, Sept. 29, after the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) granted the library’s (which is the employer) request for arbitration.
Union representatives confirmed workers would return to the library at 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday and Mayor James Leduc confirmed the library was expected to be open to the public by 4 p.m.
“I am pleased to share the news that the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) has approved the Board’s request for first collective agreement arbitration. Although this may be perceived as an excessive step to take towards coming to a resolution, there has been little movement in negotiations and both parties have been unsuccessful in coming to a mutual agreement,” the mayor said in a statement via email.
“I would like to thank our community for your continued patience and support, as we navigate through this challenging time. There is still a lot of work to be done, and there were certainly many lessons learned along the way. Arbitration will be the final step to a resolution,” he added.
The mood of the council chamber inside the Don Harrison Auditorium was also much more calm and orderly than in weeks past, with the council table and staff area roped off in an effort to maintain order and decorum.
During the last meeting on Sept. 19, a group of library workers and supporters packed the council chamber, overflowing from the seating area and standing wherever they could to listen as a group of 11 speakers clamoured to be heard, even after public forum had ended.
This led the mayor to recess the meeting, but that didn’t stop the group from having their say as a portable speaker and microphone was produced from a baby stroller, and the statements continued.
As tensions rose and efforts to return to the council agenda were shouted down, the mayor requested the assistance of the South Simcoe Police Service, and several councillors eventually left, causing the meeting to end due to a lack of quorum.
By comparison, last night’s meeting was sparsely attended with only four people registering to speak during open forum.
Katherine Grzejszczak, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 905, which is representing the 34 (previously 36) library workers, spoke about the impacts of the arbitration decision.
“While the library will reopen tomorrow, the workers have been forced to continue working without their increase and without a collective agreement ... They’ve now had their right to collectively withdraw their labour — which is a human right — taken away from them by the labour board,” she said.
Grzejszczak also noted repeated instances from council and the library board of what she felt was misogyny against the mostly female library workers.
“It’s not a single occurrence but a consistent pattern. ... We’ve heard you: Women who don’t know their place are going to be painted as dangerous. This is why we’ve had the police called on us three times, because we dared to strike for better pay. ... Apparently it’s a threat for women to express political demands about their pay,” she said.
Grzejszczak concluded by saying she is “beyond proud to stand with these women for 71 days who stood up to power,” and that while the strike is over, she still feels the demands for respect, fairness and a pay increase of $1.35 per hour each year over two years remain unanswered.
When asked after the meeting about the accusation of misogyny, the mayor had no comment.
Andrea Vander Kooij, a children’s programming librarian who has worked at the library for eight years, read a statement prepared by Wendy Zwaal who also spoke at the last meeting about her experiences as the unit chair for the union local.
“Following the decision of the labour board, we have been denied our right to strike and ordered back to the workplace. We were on strike for 71 days and during that time some truths came to light,” Vander Kooij read.
The statement went on to list 10 things the library workers learned while on strike, including accusations about the employer’s willingness to negotiate.
“When the employer does not wish to negotiate, all the employer needs to say at the table is ‘the employer refuses.’ We have been characterized as reluctant or unwilling to negotiate. Our employer repeatedly said ‘the employer refuses.’ That is not negotiation,” she said.
The statement also questioned council’s willingness to listen and the library board’s availability to the public, and invited councillors to visit the library by suggesting they make use of dictionaries to check the meaning of terms like due diligence, equity, misogyny and paternalism.
“This experience has revealed those who have real leadership. I ask you to all look around at the leaders during this strike: the town council, the library board, the community members, the union, library management, and ask yourself: Who showed real leadership? Were they present and available or did they hide? Did they emphasize innovation and learning or did they just cling to the status quo? Did they inspire people and give others role and purpose? Those are qualities of a leader,” Vander Kooij read.
The statement also reiterated that the library has spent more than $82,000 on legal fees as of Aug. 1, and claimed that arbitration will be “a very expensive process,” requiring mediation, a labour board hearing, back-to-work protocols, and the arbitration process that will “result in a cost far greater than settling with the library workers ever would.”
When asked after the meeting about the cost of arbitration, the mayor had no comment, but provided a statement the following morning in which he explained the need for arbitration, in which a neutral third party will settle the collective agreement based on submissions and evidence from both sides.
“The BWGPL Board and CUPE 905 have spent 29 days in collective bargaining in the past 11 months with minimal success. Both parties agree that wages and length of term are the two main issues standing in the way of an agreement,” he said.
While the parties are waiting for an arbitrator to be appointed by the OLRB the workers are mandated back to work, and once the arbitrator provides a ruling, it will be binding for both the library and the union.
In his statement, the mayor acknowledged the desire from the community to have the library reopen and the impacts its closure has had.
“Our valued library employees will be able to return to work, and our community can once again utilize the services they have come to enjoy. ... I would like to take this time to thank the community for your patience during this disruption of service. We have all come away with some lessons learned and appreciation for ‘due process,’ ” the mayor said.
