About 2,200 library workers could walk off the job first thing Monday morning should negotiations with the city on a new collective bargaining agreement falter.
According to CUPE Local 4948 President Maureen O'Reilly, negotiations between the city and her union have been progressing slowly with little progress made to date.
While a settlement is still possible, O'Reilly says that library workers will be in a legal strike position at midnight Sunday and will walk off the job on Monday if progress towards an agreement hasn’t been made by that point.
“Torontonians love their library. It is something they value very highly and the city and library board need to respect that and support the library workers and their services,” she told CP24 on Wednesday afternoon.
Library workers last walked off job in 2012
In 2012, library workers went on strike for 11 days after negotiations broke down with the city.
O’Reilly told CP24 that the issues this time around mirror the issues that existed in 2012, specifically when it comes to “precarious work.”
About 50 per cent of all library workers are employed part-time.
“It has been extremely frustrating,” she said. “I feel like we are in the same place we were in 2012 and we seem to be revisiting it in 2016.
The contract between the city and CUPE Local 4948 expired on Dec 31 and negotiations on a new deal have been ongoing since February.
Discussing those negotiations with reporters following a speech to the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Wednesday, Mayor John Tory said he remains “optimistic” that a strike can be averted.
“I believe that before and after these negotiations the workers will have good jobs and it is my objective to make sure they do. That said I also understand the fact that in organizations there are going to be differing needs for people whether it be full-time or part-time,” he said. “We have to settle on something that is fair to those workers but also fair to the organization that is employing them which is publicly financed.”
