Union: City Can Afford To Maintain Library Hours

January 12, 2012 6:53 AM

Library Generic (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

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CHICAGO (CBS) — The union representing frontline library employees is all but rejecting a letter from aldermen Edward Burke (14th) and Brendan Reilly (42nd) asking workers to make a sacrifice to preserve library hours.

As WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, Anders Lindall, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, scoffs at the aldermen’s request that unionized library workers forgo their expected raises to keep the libraries open six days a week.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports

He points to the recent cut in the city head tax.

“A city with $23 million in new tax loopholes for corporations this year can afford $3 million for its libraries for the people of all of its neighborhoods,” Lindall said. “A city that saved more than $8 million over and above its targeted efficiencies for the last calendar year and is seeking a lot of credit for doing so, could use less than half that amount to keep the libraries open for the people.”

That, he says, is what the union wants.

Burke and Reilly said earlier this week that the decision to close libraries on Monday could be reversed if the employees passed up their 3.5 percent raises, for a savings of some $1.6 million. They say that money could also be used to rehire most of the 176 Chicago Public Library employees who were recently laid off.

Meanwhile, city officials continue to try to persuade the union to accept a 40-hour per week schedule that would keep the libraries open six days a week, but only for four hours on Mondays and Fridays.

The plan to close the libraries on Monday and Friday mornings when kids are in school was Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s stated plan during negotiations for his 2012 budget proposal.

But the mayor said the deal depended on an agreement with the union on more flexible hours, and because the union did not agree, the city had to close the libraries all day on Monday to save money.

Union: City Can Afford To Maintain Library Hours

Jim

First, thank god librarians have Unions as that is some rough, dirty labor! Secondly, I agree with the Unions that everyone working in the private sector should just sign over their checks to the city so the Union employees can make even more bloated salaries than they do now. Why should librarians not drive BMW’s and frequent Smith and Wollensky’s a few times a week while the lowly taxpayers drive their beaters around and feast on their Spam and Ramen noodles?
adamd13

Library employees, even with the union library employees, don’t make that much. The ones that do are librarians, who need a master’s degree wich cost’s at least $30,000 plus the 4 year degree to go with it. I assume you never went to a library as a kid or if you have kids never plan to send them? Library’s keep kids out of gangs and trouble in the city. I agree that it’s not tough manual work but the desk workers start at $12.00 an hour.
E M R L

Jim must be a friend of Burke or Rahm where in the world do you get the idea all union employees get these high salaries and golden benefits . If you look at the Better Business Bureau website you can look up ALL goverment employees pay and see most employees of the libarary earn NO more than 35000 per year and yes they do pay for their own benefits. The bosses are the ones with high pay, check the last names and see most are the same name and related to the elected officals who always start as supervisors with little or NO experience. These same elected politicans have been blaming the employee, do as I say NOT as I do cut your pay not mine SINCERELY ED BURKE.
http://tubeshaker.com/should-chicago-library-workers-skip-raises-to-keep-branches-open-on-mondays/ Should Chicago Library Workers Skip Raises To Keep Branches Open On Mondays? | TubeShaker

[...] further points to the cut in the city’s head tax as proof that the city has the money to keep the libraries open and to even avoid employee layoffs if it chose to …, as CBS Chicago [...]
http://overnightsatellite.com/should-chicago-library-workers-skip-raises-to-keep-branches-open-on-mondays/ Should Chicago Library Workers Skip Raises To Keep Branches Open On Mondays? | Overnight Satellite

[...] further points to the cut in the city’s head tax as proof that the city has the money to keep the libraries open and to even avoid employee layoffs if it chose to …, as CBS Chicago [...]