Greetings,

Today we have a positive message to share with you. With your assistance, on November 4th the library workers of the Gloucester County Library System unanimously voted in contracts for both our Rank & File and our Supervisory Bargaining units. Before I share the positive message with you, I want to explain how we got here since our last update.

The last message we sent out over Change.org mentioned that the GCLS Commissioners filed for an impasse against us, effectively halting our negotiation efforts. It is, at that time, our demonstration efforts redoubled. Our bargaining committee began making public requests of Commissioner Chair Frank DiMarco and Commissioner Lyman Barnes (our library liaison) to step in and get negotiations restarted. Members of the public also began to request both publicly and privately for our elected county officials to bring some fairness back to these negotiations. This collective will, voiced at a critical time, was what our library workers needed to reopen communication which ultimately let the negotiation process find a mutually agreeable resolution for both sides.

For our library workers, this second contract begins to make up for what we lost in 2015 by providing a modest but meaningful yearly increase to our worker’s wages, reimbursement for costly association fees, as well as an immediate pay increase for all Library Assistants making under $15.00 to be brought up to that amount. These wage increases are all retroactive back to January 1st of this year. We have secured these benefits for the duration of a five year contract while heading into uncertain economic times.

We would like to acknowledge Gloucester County Commissioners, Chair Frank DiMarco and Library Liaison Lyman Barnes, for their part in helping resolve this impasse. Our library workers all truly hope to move forward positively and proactively from here so that we can continue to focus on providing our patrons with the highest quality library services possible in an ever-changing information landscape.

For you, our supporters, we will always have the deepest of appreciation for choosing to stand with our library workers during these trying times. There is seemingly no shortage of issues to be concerned about in recent years, so the fact that each of you took time to sign our petition, made requests of our public officials, have written to your local papers, and continued to utilize our ever-expanding array of quality library services during this time means the world to each of us. This is because each of you help make our world possible in the first place. Without you, our public, supporting and patronizing these services there would be no Gloucester County Library or Gloucester County library workers.

In solidarity and appreciation,

The Library Workers of the Gloucester County Library System