503 Wins Right to Bargain with Library Firm in Jackson Co

Workers represented by SEIU Local 503 at the Jackson County Library in Southern Oregon have won the right to negotiate a contract with the private firm that reopened the library last fall under a five-year contract with the county.

Under terms of a settlement in response to a charge filed by Local 503 in December with the National Labor Relations Board, Library Systems and Services has agreed to recognize SEIU 503 as the legal bargaining agent for library employees and begin bargaining.

The county closed its libraries and terminated employees last April following a reduction of federal aid to timber counties. It later rejected an SEIU bid to run the library and instead entered into a five-year contract with the company, which is based in Maryland and known as LSSI, to run the libraries.

Most of the county library employees returned at reduced pay and benefits and without union protection. This year the county has agreed to pay LSSI $3.14 million and allocate an additional amount for such services as utilities, facility maintenance, landscaping, telephones, custodial services and computer support.

"It means library employees will have their union back and more of a voice at their work," Pauline Black, a library assistant in Ashland, said in a story in the Medford Mail Tribune.

“Linda Davidson, officer in charge for the Portland office of the NLRB, said the situation with Jackson County union workers is not uncommon,” the paper reported.

“In other cases where a majority of the workers were terminated then rehired, the private company had to recognize them as members of the union, she said.”

Andrew Barnes, SEIU 503 assistant director of external organizing, told the Mail Tribune the union would survey members of the unit before presenting a contract proposal to the company.  "It's not going to be an easy process to enter into a contract," he said. "We're hoping for a collaborative process."

“He said the unfair labor practice complaint was filed because the union maintains its members can't just be terminated, then rehired again by another company to do basically the same job,” the story reported, adding: “Black, the library assistant in Ashland, said about 90 percent of the library employees she's talked to support the return of the union.

 “‘Working for LSSI or any employer where there isn't a union means that you are less free to speak and less free to offer your opinion," she said. ‘I feel a lot more secure.’ “Black said she is not eligible for health benefits under LSSI because she works just 20 hours a week. She said she would have been eligible under the contract with the county, though she had insurance through her husband.

“She said it's important that shelvers, who perform the task of putting books back in the right spot, get some additional benefits such as health insurance, vacation and paid holidays.

“‘It's an essential position," she said. ‘People who are not as trained and motivated don't do a good job.’ “Black noted that while some people don't like unions, the organized groups helped establish the eight-hour workday and other benefits that most employees take for granted. She said the local union helped lobby in Washington, D.C., to get the one-year renewal of the federal timber payments, which was used, in part, to reopen the libraries.

Black understands that LSSI wants to make a profit, but she said, ‘It concerns me when we see the profits not benefiting the local area at all.’ She said the decision to contract with an outside firm has meant some workers can barely support themselves on the wages and benefits offered. She said the county, which supported outsourcing, needs to consider options that benefit the community as a whole.

"’The cheapest thing isn't the best thing in most circumstances,’ she said.”