Sunday, August 24, 2008 Staten Island Yankees vs. Lowell Red Socks, 2:00 p.m. at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, $15 per ticket, All-You-Can-Eat. Express yourself at a Local 1930 union meeting! Click on the link below for details: 2008 General Membership Meetings, Events and Executive Board Meetings

Request for submissions:
Please send articles, stories, letters, cartoons, etc. to local1930update@gmail.com

Labor-Management Meeting held
on May 7, 2008

At the Labor-Management Meeting held on May 7, 2008 at 3:00 pm, the Library Site Manager was discussed and we are waiting for a lot more information.

We are still unclear about the eligibility requirements, evaluation of performance, responsibilities, and terms of appointment. The salary for the position was not discussed.

In solidarity,
Carol Thomas & Executive Board

Carol Thomas, President of Local 1930
Testifies at City Council Hearing on March 24, 2008

Carol Thomas— President of Local 1930
The New York Public Library Guild
Cultural Affairs, Libraries & International Intergroup Relations
Testimony at City council Hearing on
March 24, 2008

Good morning committee members. I am Carol thomas, president of Local 1930, which represents over 1,600 librarians and clerical and other workers in the New York Public Library.

I would like to underscore my deep concern about the preliminary budget, which falls way short of addressing the library's staffing needs. Last year, we supported the library's decision to provide six-day service. But the library has failed to provide the resources to support its commitment to expand services to the New York City community.

Six-day service is a terrific idea, but we are in dire need of more staff to run the individual libraries. To date, NYPL has hired approximately 55 new employees. Of the 55 hired, 14 are in Research libraries and 41 in the branches. Of the 41 hired in the branches, the new employees include (3) Clericals; (29) Library Information Assistants; 9 Librarians (6 are Trainees). This is not nearly enough staff and the shortage is real and severe.

While we commend the City Council for allocating the $20.1 million to the NYPL, it was the union's understanding that the money would be used to hire 150-200 new staff members that provide public service in the branches. The staff shortages are particulary bad at the following Staten Island branches: New Dorp, Todt Hill-Westerleigh, Tottenville, St. George, and Richmondtown (see chart below).

While the 6 day service has been implemented, NYPL is in the process of selling the Mid-Manhattan Bldg. at 40th Street and Fifth, of closing the Science, Industry & Business Library at 34th & Madison, and the Annex on West 43rd Street. It has already sold the Donnell Library for $59 million. While these sales are occurring the library is not discussing using the new funds to address hiring needs.

Throughout my 40 years at the library, the NYPL has held a tax status as "non-profit." However, it seems to the union that the selling of all of these public buildings that the library has changed its tax status to "for profit."

Who is accountable for the monies collected from the tax payers of NYC and given by the City Council to the NYPL to spend with "no restrictions?"

The NYPL is flush with money—including a new gift of $100 million from a hedge fund billionaire. This is an "unrestricted gift" that can be used by the library for any purpose. The NYPL is using $1 billion dollars to dress up 1 building—the Central Library on 42nd Street (People's Palace). In addition, the NYPL endowment sits at over $800 million dollars.

What about using these monies now for the infrastucture of the branches? The union has had to file grievances in order to get much needed repairs done due to extremely poor maintenance.

What is to become of our poor neighborhood branches and stressed overworked staff?

Yours truly,
Carol Thomas—President—Local 1930

NYPL site in Long Island City

The two letters below give some background to the ongoing discussion between the Union and management regarding the move of some Library staff to Long Island City.

January 15, 2008

Mr. Peter Gurgigno
Health and Safety Officer
New York Public Library

Dear Mr. Gurgigno:

As you are aware the New York Public Library signed a long-term lease at 31-11 Thomas Avenue in Long Island City and is transferring approximately 300 members to this site in Fall 2009.

December 2007 Channel 5 10 o'clock news featured a story about a toxin TCE (Trichloroethylene) was found under the former Swingline Stapler Factory. This chemical is a carcinogen and has been linked to causing nerve damage and birth defects. The Swingline Stapler Factory is located very close to the NYPL site in Long Island City.

District Council 37 and the members of both Local 1930 and Local 374 are very concerned about the possible toxic contamination of this new NYPL work site in Long Island City.

I am requesting the following as soon as possible:

• Name and address of the company or companies performing any environmental tests on the LIC site to include dates and times of such tests.
• Any or all results from the environmental testing performed on the LIC site.
• Dates, times and what city agency was notified of such test and copies of any/all permits required.

All of this information requested above will be reviewed by the DC 37 Safety and Health Unit.

Sincerely,
Lisa Riccio
Council Representative

January 30, 2008

Lisa Riccio
Council Representative, Local 1930
DC 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

Re: New York Public Library — 13-11 Thomson Avenue, Queens, New York

Dear Lisa:

I am in receipt of your letter dated January 15, 2008.

The New York Public Library is aware of the public concern regarding environmental conditions arising from a nearby property in the general vicinity of the 31-11 Thomson Avenue Site and has undertaken a number of measures to address these concerns as they relate to the future occupancy of the Site by Library staff. In particular, the Library has engaged the services of a qualified environmental firm with special expertise in indoor air/industrial hygiene matters, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), to assess the results of various sampling events in and around the Site building and provide technical advice with respect to ensuring that working conditions in the Site building comply with all applicable environmental/health and safety laws and regulations. Once ERM's initial efforts are completed, we will be happy to share and discuss their conclusions and recommendations with the union.

Please be assured that the health and safety of the Library staff is of the utmost concern to us and that no staff will be permitted to work in the Site building until we receive assurances that conditions in the building are in compliance with all applicable environmental/health and safety laws and regulations and the indoor environment is deemed to pose no unacceptable risk to occupants.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Peter Gurgigno
Health & Safety Officer

2008 Stipend for ALA (Mid-Winter & Annual), NYSLAA, PLA, and NYLA Conferences

Dear Members,

It is a great gift that your union is able to continue to give up to $100.00 as a stipend to help offset the cost of conferences in 2008. Because of strict IRS guidelines, the following proof of documentation must be submitted to the Treasurer of the union before a check may be issued. **Please note: you must prove that you had incurred an out-of-pocket expense and that you have attended the conference.**

This $100 stipend will be limited to those who will not receive any compensation from the Library (Library Time Only). You must provide the union with a copy of the following: NYPL-Travel Expense Form #1003 (completed and signed front and back); conference registration form; transportation (Amtrak, airline, bus receipt); and hotel receipt. No exceptions. Please make sure that your name appears on each receipt.

All documentation is due within 30 days after the conference ends. Please send all receipts through IBL to Nina Manning @ HTR. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me directly @ 212-491-2074 or nmanning@nypl.org.

In solidarity,
Nina E. Manning
Treasurer

Your Voice
Add your voice to the Local 1930 Update.
Submit your articles, stories, letters, cartoons, etc. to local1930update@gmail.com


Radio Show
Listen to three of your coworkers from the Local 1930 Executive Board discuss the NYPL restructuring. Listen online at http://www.dc37.net/news/radioshows/radioshows.html, or tune in to WNYE, 91.5 FM, Sunday nights, January 13 or 20; or Wednesday afternoons, January 16 or 23.

Labor Management Meeting

On Wednesday, September 19th, 2007, representatives of Local 1930 and NYPL management met to discuss specific questions posed by the union to management.

What follows is a synopsis based on the notes of one of the union's participants.

The union asked seven specific questions, sent to management in advance, which we wanted answered during the course of the meeting. Here are the questions and answers:

1. A list of new employees to be hired in Local 374 and Local 1930 as a result of the $20 million dollars allocated by the City Council.

Management provided a chart which broke current hiring into "six day of service recruiting," "other recruiting," "six day of service filled positions," and "other filled positions." This was generally perceived by union representatives as being too vague and not giving a clear picture of the total number of new hires since July 1, 2007. During the discussion, one management representative stated that the Library "is not short-staffed."

2. How many branches will be closed? When will they be closed? What will happen to staff at those branches?
Management would not discuss building closing due to ongoing discussions with "key funders."

3. Staffing model for NYPL to include both Research and Branch libraries.
No specific staffing model was discussed, other than what is being tried through the Bronx Pilot. Management is attempting to centralize some processing, programming and administrative duties, in order to give staff more time for public service.

4. What is the status of the Information Desk? How many hours are employees at the desk?
Some staffers at the Bronx Library Center are being forced to work up to four consecutive hours at the public service desk, a violation of our contract. Some public service stations may be consolidated. Management encouraged employees to express their concerns.

5. How will NYPL address the procedure for the 6 day service?
Management is using the Bronx Pilot to fine tune work processes, branch hours and staffing levels. It will soon move the pilot to Staten Island.

6. How are you addressing both voluntary and involuntary transfers?
One and a half weeks notice is given for a transfer. If the transfer is deemed a hardship, management will give extra time before the transfer is made.

7. What is the procedure and notification process when changing an employee's work schedule to accommodate the proposed extended hours?
Workers in the Bronx Pilot branches were given very little advance notice, about a week, regarding extended hours in their locations.

After the main portion of the meeting, the union representatives met in private for several minutes. When the two sides reconvened, the union made several demands of, or statements to, NYPL management:

A. We want a list of new employees, by name and title, hired since July 1, 2007.
B. Please share any information on building closings as soon as a deal is closed.
C. Regarding the Bronx Pilot, we would like follow-up meetings between union representatives and NYPL management; also, we want to know what criteria are being used to evaluate the Pilot.
D. We will grieve instances of union members working more than two consecutive hours on the public service desk.
E. We are not pleased with the number of nights and weekends being worked by staff involved in the Bronx Pilot; also, why are staff only being offered comp time and not overtime?

Letter From the Executive Board

Aug. 28, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

You have already heard that the New York Public Library is opening all branches for 47 hours per week beginning on September 4. Those of us in the leadership of Local 1930 only heard about this at the end of July through indirect sources. We read a meeting notes addendum which stated that "as part of "six days" of library services and the increase that the NYPL received from the City budget, all branches will be increasing hours in September. All branches will provide 47 hours of public service which will include two evenings per week (12-8pm), three week days in which branches open from 10-6pm and Saturdays from 10-5pm.

We all know that the City Council mandated 6-day service provided that there be hiring sufficient staff to cover the six days of opening. Local 1930 played not a small role in procuring this proviso. The figure being talked of was an additional 162 to 200 new staff members. The date for 6-day opening was July 2, 2007. This date was met and while hiring continued, staff members were offered the chance to work overtime hours. However, the NYPL has now decided to open the branches 47 hours per week. The deal with the City Council was for 45 hours per week.

From what we have been able to glean so far, it looks as if NYPL management has made this commitment or offer to the City and has made it a self-fulfilling prophecy. It gets even better when you consider that the NYPL has put a moratorium on hiring. Apparently, only 76 total new hires/promotions in the entire branch system. Does this even begin to satisfy the current pre-September version of 6-day service? It doesn't take much to see what 47 hours per week means for every branch in the system. You only have to look at the current branch library hour's schedules for the three boroughs to quickly see the implications for one's branch.

Gone are the 1 pm openings so important for catch-up work. What about the safety and security issues of 8 pm closings when a skeleton staff, often without security guards, manages a two-floor branch? What about the delicate balance of scheduling and accommodation for the staff — so many of whom are single-parents or are going to college at night — that forms the personality of the individual branch?

We at Local 1930 were never consulted on any one of these issues. We were never informed officially of the NYPL's intent to open ALL branches for 47 hours. We do not feel that this was dealing in good faith with the members bargaining unit that is our union. Some, when told about the 47 hours responded by asking "are they for real?" Well, apparently they are. But just how realistic are they? And who, as always, will bear the brunt of this latest management initiative. How can this new schedule be made to work — given the staffing levels? this magic number '47' is not the straw that breaks the camel's back - it is a two-ton weight.

On August 22, 2007 a letter signed by Carol Thomas and Cuthbert Dickenson — President Local 374 was faxed to Priscilla Southon — VP of Human Resources requesting a labor management meeting. We are waiting to hear from the library.

Please note: on Tuesday, August 21 at around 3 pm President Carol Thomas, who was on annual leave received a courtesy conference call from Priscilla Southon and Anne Coriston alerting her of the memo from David S. Ferriero, dated Monday, August 27, 2007 that was sent to the staff at 04:25 pm.

— The Executive Board

PLEASE POST

I WANT TO STRESS THAT THIS IS NOT A PILOT AGENDA
THIS IS FOR REAL...

20 MILLION $ (given by the City Council to open the branches 6 days with 45 hours of public service)
-76 (new hires/promotions in the branches only)
=staff shortages, lower morale, involuntary transfers.

All of the above and other issues will be addressed at a labor/management meeting that is to be scheduled.

— The Executive Board, Local 1930
8/28/07

Branch Promotions
(New Hires/Promotions)

Labor Management Meeting

May 29, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

On Monday May 21, 2007, Local 1930 President Carol Thomas and Local 374 President Cuthbert Dickenson, LTA Vice President Anthony Wyche, Librarian Research Representative Asa Rubenstein, Nola Booker Assistant Director of DC 37 Research and Negotiations, Lisa Riccio DC 37 Council Representative and other DC 37 officials, met with NYPL management to discuss the elimination of seven permanent and two temporary positions as of June 30, 2007. This elimination of jobs include one within NYPL Express and eight within the Research Libraries' Technical Services Department, mostly from its Preservation Reformatting and the rest from its Serials Acquisition and Monographic Cataloging Division. These positions include mostly Library Technical Assistants, but also a Librarian III, a Library Administrative Associate and a Camera Operator.

Vice President for Human Resources Priscilla Southon and the Research Libraries Director's Budget Analyst Francine Feuerman explained that since September 11, 2001 the Research Libraries' expenses have been rising at a faster rate than its endowment while other revenue sources have been flat. They claimed that the Library was able to avoid layoffs partly by cutting other expenses, including book acquisitions and mainly through attrition resulting in the loss of 230 jobs from both the Research Libraries and the branches. According to NYPL management, such measures are no longer sufficient especially since the library lost its National Endowment for Humanities grant which was funding the positions in Technical Services related top preservation microfilming, and Mayor Bloomberg is also insisting on cutting $1.9 million from the library's budget for the current fiscal year and another $5 million for the next fiscal year.

Technical Services Director Cynthia Clark stated that her department had to cut $700,000 from its budget and could find only $530,000 in reductions of other expenses before making up the difference from staffing reductions. She and Vice President Southon explained that the title eliminations were done according to seniority in title. They also noted that changing trends in the library's work make those positions unnecessary. There will be much less emphasis on microfilming. NYPL Express is getting fewer clients because of the web. Reductions in the acquisitions budget have affected the workload, especially that of the Monographic Cataloging Division which can depend more on OCLC and the skills of its LTA II's and less on the expertise and language specialities of a Librarian III when it is receiving much fewer Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin books requiring it.

Human Resource Recruitment Director Kimberly Roberts reported that two of the seven displaced staff members have received and accepted offers of other positions within the library, and the rest have interviews, except the Librarian III with whom she was still struggling to find a suitable opening. Vice President Southon added that a cataloguer of such expertise is very hard to find and is one that the library does not want to lose. The day after this meeting Librarian III was scheduled for an interview in the Branches. As far as the future was concerned, Ms. Southon stated that until the city's budget is settled and the Mayor's cuts to the library's funding are restored, there would not be six-day service. In response to union questioning, she also admitted that staff reductions during the next fiscal year (which starts this July 1) are very possible, though she declined to state a figure or any other details.

In solidarity,
The Executive Board
Local 1930

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