Roundup: Toronto Public Library Workers Go On Strike

The Toronto Public Library is the busiest urban library system in the world. (Fast Facts About TPL)
More than 2300 library workers belong to the union.

Statements

From the Toronto Public Library Workers Union:

• Toronto Public Library Workers call strike after Library Board fails to offer fair deal (via TPLWU)
  • TPLWU 4948 on Twitter

From the Toronto Public Library

• Library branches closed during labour disruption: Most website services available (via TPL)
  • TPL on Twitter

Coverage

Video: Librarians walk off the job, 98 branches close (via CP24.com)
Talks fail as Toronto library workers go on strike (via Toronto Star)

Late Saturday night, both parties decided to extend their 12:01 a.m. deadline to 3 a.m., then 6 a.m., then noon, and then until 5 p.m., according to a Toronto Public Library spokesperson.
Bleary-eyed negotiators worked through the night and day to avoid the closure of the 98 library branches in Toronto.
Job security was the major issue during the negotiations

Talks fail as Toronto library workers go on strike (via Toronto Star)

Late Saturday night, both parties decided to extend their 12:01 a.m. deadline to 3 a.m., then 6 a.m., then noon, and then until 5 p.m., according to a Toronto Public Library spokesperson.
Bleary-eyed negotiators worked through the night and day to avoid the closure of the 98 library branches in Toronto.
Job security was the major issue during the negotiations.

Toronto Public Library Workers on Strike (via City News)

The 2,300 employees are now off the job and will hit the picket lines Monday, with a rally scheduled for noon at City Hall.
“Despite our best attempts and numerous extensions to the deadline, negotiations have stalled. If we want to provide library workers and the world-class services they provide, we find we are left with little choice but to take job action,” said CUPE Local 4948 President Maureen O’Reilly.

Toronto library workers headed for strike (via The Globe and Mail)

The library’s management has said it has a contingency plan but the union predicts that the city will not be able to keep operating all 98 neighbourhood branches.
[Clip]
Users are asked to hold on to the books they have borrowed until the end of the strike, said library spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins.The libraries’ web services will keep operating however, so the public can still download eBooks or do online research, she said.

Toronto library workers on strike (via CBC)
Library Workers Go On Striks (via Torontoist)

Filed under: Libraries, Management and Leadership, News, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries, Roundup