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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto Credit: AFSCME Council 13.<\/p>\n
Workers at the Upper Darby Township\u00a0&\u00a0Sellers Memorial Free Public Library\u00a0in Pennsylvania\u00a0won their union with\u00a0AFSCME Council 13<\/a>, marking a victory for library workers seeking a stronger voice on the job and a brighter future for the communities they serve.\u00a0<\/p>\n The workers voted overwhelmingly in favor\u00a0of their union\u00a0on June 24\u00a0after months of organizing and\u00a0having\u00a0one-on-one conversations with\u00a0each other\u00a0about the issues facing their workplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to form a union because we felt like we\u2019d have more bargaining power to change our situation,\u201d said Program Coordinator Jean Kosha. \u201cPeople are really interested in forming a union and they\u2019re excited about what it will bring.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n For Customer Service Assistant Hunter Montgomery, the campaign was driven by the passion he sees every day among his co-workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople work at the library because it\u2019s important,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cThey know it\u2019s a valuable service and a place where people can come and\u00a0get their problems solved. That passion is something none of my co-workers lack.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As workers discussed what they wanted to improve, they found overwhelming support for forming a union.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople wanted more agency at work and a bigger voice in decisions that have such a huge effect on the services we can offer the community,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cOnce people realized the power that collective action gives you, it kind of felt easy. The momentum just kept building, and we were able to ride that wave of enthusiasm right through the successful election.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n While fair wages and a strong first contract are top priorities, library workers say their organizing effort is also about protecting and strengthening a vital public institution.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe serve everybody,\u201d Kosha said. \u201cIt\u2019s not only about checking out books. It\u2019s about serving the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Now that they have won their union, the library workers are looking ahead to negotiating their first contract. Their\u00a0priorities include fair wages, cost-of-living adjustments, stronger workplace\u00a0protections\u00a0and a greater voice in shaping the future of the library.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited to have a bigger say in our workplace and in the decisions that affect both employees and the people we serve every day,\u201d Montgomery said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kosha believes the\u00a0strong\u00a0support\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0throughout the organizing campaign will carry into contract negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n The victory also sends\u00a0a message\u00a0to workers everywhere about the power of solidarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI hope people see organizations like ours come together and realize that getting together with your co-workers can make a huge,\u00a0positive difference in the workplace and the community,\u201d Montgomery said.\u00a0<\/p>\n More\u202fthan 50,000 workers in libraries, museums,\u202fzoos\u202fand other cultural institutions\u202facross the country have\u202fgained\u202fa seat at the table\u202fand a voice on the job\u202fthrough\u202fthe AFSCME Cultural Workers United<\/a> campaign, the largest organizing effort of its kind in the nation.\u202f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo Credit: AFSCME Council 13. Workers at the Upper Darby Township\u00a0&\u00a0Sellers Memorial Free Public Library\u00a0in Pennsylvania\u00a0won their union…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-247976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}