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ADVOCATING FOR LIBRARY WORKERS: A UNION PERSPECTIVE

ARLD Day Panel, May 6, 2022

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Who we are

  • Sara Westdal
    • Library Assistant | University of Minnesota | AFSCME Local 3937

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  • Amanda Mills
    • Library Faculty | Minneapolis Community & Technical College Library | MSCF

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  • Hannah Schefers
    • Library Technician | St. Cloud State University | AFSCME

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  • Michelle Filkins
    • Professor and Librarian | Metro State University | IFO

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Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF)

  • 1914
    • First public junior college opened in MN. Public junior colleges were later called “community colleges.”
  • 1963
    • MN Legislature established the State Junior College Board, later succeeded by the Community College Board in 1973. This effectively created Minnesota’s system of state-oriented junior/community colleges.
  • 1995
    • Minnesota State College and Universities (MnSCU) system established by the MN Legislature. Now known as Minnesota State, the founding legislation merged the seven state universities, 34 technical colleges and 21 community colleges under the MnSCU Board of Trustees. Minnesota State is the largest public system of higher education in MN.

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Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF)

  • 2001
    • MSCF formed by merger of two other faculty unions
      • United Technical Educators (UTCE) and Minnesota Community College Faculty Association (MCCFA) joined to become the exclusive bargaining representative for all technical and community college faculty in Minnesota.
  • Today
    • MSCF currently includes 3,700+ members located at 30 colleges (46 campuses and sites) throughout Minnesota.
    • Works to improve working and academic conditions for two-year faculty and gives faculty a voice in their classrooms, colleges, and careers.

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Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF)

  • MSCF represents all two-year college faculty (including librarians, who are faculty under the MSCF contract) in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MinnState) system
    • Negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement (faculty contract)
      • Contract applies to ALL faculty, contingent or “tenured”
    • Processing of all faculty grievances & provides legal representation for faculty
    • Lobbying the Minnesota Legislature & increasing and maintaining contact with other groups who share our concerns
    • Providing committees and a governance structure essential to the involvement of college faculty in the operation of the MinnState system.

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Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF)

  • Statewide
    • Exec Committee of MNState Faculty
      • President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary (elected)
      • Governmental Relations/Lobbyist (appointed)
      • 5 At-Large members
    • Annual Delegate Assembly business meeting
  • Campus Local (Minneapolis/Local 4901)
    • President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Legislative Liaison*, Membership Chair*, Grievance Rep
    • All faculty committee members appointed by local union president
      • Faculty Shared Governance, Curriculum (AASC), Search Committees, etc.
    • Monthly meetings during Fall and Spring semester

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American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3937

  • History of Local 3937 at the U of M
  • Who we represent
  • Structure of the Local
  • Engagement and DEI surveys
  • Contract negotiations
  • Union advocacy
  • Legislative outreach

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AFSCME 753

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees

  • AFSCME Council 5 is a union of more than 43,000 working Minnesotans from across the state.
  • AFSCME represents about 1,100 library workers across the state of Minnesota
  • Local 753 (St. Cloud State University) is apart of Council 5
  • Local 753 also represents Chartwell’s food service workers on campus
  • St Cloud State has 247 staff employees with 192 AFSCME Members
  • We have an E-Board that consists of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Unit Reps, and the Chief Steward. We also have a steward team that handles grievances

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Inter Faculty Organization (IFO)

ABOUT

  • Formed in 1938 as an independent union
  • Represents resident and contingent/community faculty at the 7 state universities:

Bemidji, Mankato, Moorhead, Metro State, St. Cloud, Southwest, and Winona

  • Collective bargaining, contract enforcement, advocacy
  • Total number of faculty: 3,683 Total number of IFO members: 2,222
  • Each local Faculty Association (FA) has an executive committee, the organization has an elected statewide president, board, and various committees and caucuses

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Inter Faculty Organization (IFO)

PRIORITIES

  • Shared governance – this happens at the campus level between the faculty and administration

-FA and University Committees and Councils, T&P Process

  • Academic freedom - similar to language from American Association of University Professors (AAUP) statement of principles of academic freedom and tenure https://www.aaup.org/report/1940-statement-principles-academic-freedom-and-tenure
  • Equity and inclusion
    • Equity caucuses/committees within IFO: Feminist Issues, Faculty of Color, LGBTQ+, Disability, Contingent faculty
    • MnState Equity 2030

ADVOCACY

  • Employ Director of Public Affairs and Director of Organizing and Training, Labor and Equity Lawyers
  • Lobby Days, other legislative advocacy and policy actions
  • Internally - Board with reps and FA presidents, Standing committees and caucuses https://www.ifo.org/committees
    • Set policy / Delegate Assembly provide direction to negotiating team and board/Government Relations
    • Librarian Caucus (approx. 40 members)

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PELRA IN MINNESOTA

Collective Bargaining/PERLA from the Mn Legislative website:

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“The Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA) establishes the rules for collective bargaining between Minnesota public employers and representatives of public employees. PELRA grants public employees the right to unionize and to bargain collectively, sets the criteria for establishment of bargaining units, provides procedures for election of exclusive representatives, and contains procedures for resolving impasses in bargaining.” https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/issinfo/gvst_colbg.aspx

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UNIONIZATION IN LIBRARIES

  • Janus v. AFSCME https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-1466_2b3j.pdf
    • 2018 ruling
    • Unions cannot require employees to pay fees (or fair share) to cover the costs of collective bargaining
  • According to BLS, 14,000,000 workers (not just library workers) are represented by unions https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/union2.pdf
  • ALA information on unions https://www.ala.org/tools/atoz/unions
  • Recent article on library unionization
    • Rea, A. (2022). Library Workers Unite. Library Journal, 147(2), 3
      • approximately 26% of all library workers are union members
      • Gallop poll found 68% national approval of unions, highest since 1965

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Let’s hear from you!

  • Questions and feedback from the survey

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  • Other comments or questions