The overwhelming support for a strike does not mean that a walkout is guaranteed. Brampton Library CEO Todd Kyle told The Pointer that all nine branches remain open, with their normal working hours, and that this summer has in fact been one of the system\u2019s busiest. The summer reading club, Kyle said, has seen heavy use.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both sides say that conciliation efforts are underway, with bargaining ongoing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CUPE Local 1776 represents about 180 full and part-time employees across Brampton Library\u2019s nine branches. The local\u2019s collective agreement with the library expired earlier this year, and the two sides have been at the bargaining table since.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Union says the vote reflects years of frustration over wages that have not kept pace with inflation and the City of Brampton\u2019s population growth, along with staffing levels that leave branches unable to fill shifts when workers call in sick, leaving remaining staff to absorb the workload or, at times, forcing the cancellation of programming such as makerspace sessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brampton Library operates with funding received from property taxes. The City\u2019s 2024 budget <\/a>shows that the Library received $21.4 million in funding. In 2025, this figure increased<\/a> to $22.2 million. In 2026<\/a>, the funding increased to only $22.6 million, representing a 1.4 per cent increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kyle, for his part, said that compared to other municipal services, Brampton Library services fared better.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Brampton Library CEO Todd Kyle said that compared to other municipal-funded services, the Brampton Library system fared much better, and is focusing on improving services for the public. <\/p>\n (The Pointer\/Alexis Wright)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe library did comparatively well in the last budget process in terms of compared to other municipally funded services,\u201d Kyle said, pointing to the 1.4 per cent operating budget increase. \u201cWe have been able to maintain our service levels and maintain the staffing at the front line, in a couple of cases, adding full-time positions.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that they were able to accomplish this by \u201clooking very hard\u201d at areas where they would be able to place non-union positions on hold amid budget limitations. He said that the focus has always been \u201cproviding the best we can at the front line for the services that people depend on.\u201d<\/p>\n The two sides differ sharply on what the 1.4 per cent increase<\/a> means in practice.<\/p>\n Union leaders say the funding has not translated into the predictable scheduling or staffing levels members need, and that the Library and City are, in the words of CUPE\u2019s own public messaging, preventing the library from serving Brampton\u2019s growing population.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kyle believes that Brampton Library is offering competitive compensation for their workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe we are not only seeking, but we actually are offering what we would consider extremely competitive compensation when compared to other public libraries in the GTA,\u201d he said. \u201cTo me, that\u2019s the best measure of how we are treating our staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, CUPE 1776 leadership is saying that this strike vote is representative of some longstanding issues their workers have been facing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLibrary workers voted so strongly in favour of our strike mandate because of the ongoing affordability crisis,\u201d said Jayda Turner, President of CUPE 1776, in an interview with The Pointer. \u201cFunding for the library hasn\u2019t kept up with Brampton\u2019s population growth and the increases in inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n Turner further stated that scheduling, and not just pay, is central to the union\u2019s demands. She said that thin schedules get \u201cshuffled around to fill gaps,\u201d which cancels programming and that the union has seen bargaining progress move slowly.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking for a deal that respects the increased cost of living, because we\u2019re at a breaking point,\u201d Turner said. \u201cWe do love our jobs. We love the community that we serve and we want them to have what they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n Stefanie Cowton, Vice President of the CUPE Local 1776 said that morale among workers has been low for the past several years. Cowton also mentioned that management and the board are aware of the staff\u2019s struggle in the affordability crisis, but have not taken concrete steps to address it. She mentioned instances where workers had to depend on food banks to put food on the table for their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe face staff shortages almost every day at our branches,\u201d Cowtown said. \u201cThose who are at work end up doing the job of two or more people in a shift.\u201d<\/p>\n Heron Burchett, a Branch Steward, echoed Turner\u2019s statements, saying that the union does not want to go on strike.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to stay and continue serving the community that we love and the libraries that you love,\u201d Burchett said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kyle also affirmed that the Library is seeking a fair deal with the Union.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are absolutely focused on that collective bargaining process,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want an agreement that offers fair and competitive pay and working conditions for employees, while making sure we have the resources to fund the services we have.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Brampton Library master plan found the City of Brampton has the fewest library branches and least library space per capita among Canada\u2019s 10 largest cities. <\/p>\n (Alexis Wright\/The Pointer files)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Brampton Library\u2019s contract dispute lands amid a longer pattern of underfunding of Brampton\u2019s critical needs as a result of Mayor Patrick Brown\u2019s repeated budget freezes that have kept City revenues stagnant<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In successive years, Brampton Library\u2019s capital budget, the funding which would be used for facilities, furniture and equipment, has been repeatedly reduced under Brown\u2019s budgets. Brown\u2019s proposed 2024 budget cut library capital funding by roughly $1.7 million<\/a>, leaving the department with $993,000 down from the $2.7 million forecast the year before, even as the City\u2019s own State of Local Infrastructure (SOLI) report found that 38 per cent of the Library\u2019s furniture and equipment in \u201cvery poor\u201d condition<\/a>, with a further 46 per cent rated poor to fair.\u00a0<\/p>\n This continued into 2025. Brown\u2019s proposed budget dropped Library capital funding from $1.74 million to $850,000<\/a>, and cut collection development funding by more than half, from $1.54 million to $700,000. This was happening at the same time the City\u2019s overall salary, wage and benefit spending rose 8.2 per cent that year, driven largely by non-union compensation.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2025, Kyle, speaking to council about the budget described \u201cgrowing demand for physical space and ongoing capacity challenges,\u201d<\/a> citing population growth of roughly 10 percent expected within three kilometres of the Chinguacousy branch over five years, and 23 per cent growth expected near the planned Clearville branch in East Brampton.\u00a0<\/p>\n The funding pressure has coincided with a long-running problem with lack of space. In 2023, the Library\u2019s busy Chinguacousy branch was evicted from the Bramalea Civic Centre with only months\u2019 notice<\/a> to make way for a Toronto Metropolitan University medical school. The Library was subsequently moved to a much smaller location at the Chinguacousy Park Ski Chalet, a temporary space that Kyle told The Pointer at the time as a \u201creal step backwards\u201d for a community that relies heavily on the branch.\u00a0<\/p>\n This happened at a time when the Library\u2019s own master plan<\/a> found that the City of Brampton had the fewest library branches and least library space per capita among Canada\u2019s ten largest cities.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Email: [email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\n At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories\u00a0to ensure every resident of Brampton, Mississauga and Niagara has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial\u00a0HERE<\/a>. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ninety-seven percent of Brampton Library workers have voted in favour of a strike mandate. The Canadian Union of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194339],"tags":[51759,49,48],"class_list":["post-851986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brampton","tag-brampton","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6a764f5b55f0d.jpg\")
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