The Newspaper Guild of Detroit has welcomed Ferndale Library Workers into their union.
Check out their mission statement and welcome them to the Guild!
"We, the workers of the Ferndale Area District Library (FADL) are joining metro Detroit’s proud tradition of labor organizing and unionization by uniting to join the Newspaper Guild of Detroit, TNG-CWA 34022. As library workers, we understand how crucial libraries are to a democratic society, and it is time for our workplace to reflect the participatory citizenship that our institution supports. Establishing a union will give us a place at the decision-making table, regularize our work duties and conditions through a formal contract, and allow us to advocate for the changes that will make our library a fairer workplace and an even stronger resource for Ferndale and its surrounding communities.
FADL is in many ways already an excellent work environment, and protecting what we already have is one of our main motivations for unionizing. In today’s uncertain political climate, we want the security of knowing we can rely on a contract and that we will have a role in its negotiation. No library director or board member, however fair-minded, stays in their role forever, and the volatile state of library governance nationwide poses a real concern. Our unionization is not only for ourselves, but for the future workers of FADL. We want to ensure that they continue to enjoy the benefits and protections that we do have, not through the potentially retractable beneficence of individuals, but through collective bargaining power.
We are also organizing to solve issues that are impeding our ability to serve our patrons and are eroding workplace morale. This includes fair pay, disparities in the PTO system, inconsistent enforcement of current workers’ rights such as regular breaks, and lack of commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and the actions required to uphold those principles. These concerns are not trivial, and if they are not addressed the library may find that it loses talented workers. The workers who do stay may grow increasingly alienated from their work, which will undermine the vision of the library to be “a leader in building and sustaining Ferndale as a creative city that attracts and nurtures talent, mobilizes ideas, stimulates innovation, and encourages diversity.”
As workers of the Ferndale Area District Library, we feel passionately about our work. It is precisely this passion that has led us to form our union: to secure what is wonderful about our jobs now, and to advocate for the rights and conditions that will make our jobs, and the jobs of the people who come after us, the very best that they can be. When we are secure and respected in our work, we become a stronger institution that is more responsive to the needs of our community. It is as both workers and as members of the democratic society the library upholds that we organize."
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