Brown University: Union Pushes For Increased Benefits For Library Workers

From The Brown Daily Herald:

Unionized workers are seeking to gain more opportunities for professional development, lower health insurance contributions, higher wage increases and union growth, multiple sources said. The contract under which library workers are employed officially expired Sept. 30, and “has been extended so that negotiators from both sides can continue to work together to reach a new agreement,” wrote Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, in an email to The Herald. Karen McAninch, business agent for the library workers’ union, United Service and Allied Workers of Rhode Island, said the negotiations process is moving slowly primarily due to discussions about staffing. [Clip] Several library workers said staffing remains their largest concern. Nancy Hart, senior library specialist at the Rockefeller Library, University employee of 21 years and union member, said “there used to be much more integration between the professional staff and the people who work in circulation.” The digitalization of the library “affects every institution in terms of workflow and number of employees,” she said, adding that “a lot of the library’s resources in the past year have been shifting from print to digital.”

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