Public Employee Press

Local 1930 leaflets at library’s party

As patrons lined up for the New York Public Library’s annual holiday party, Local 1930 members told them about the stingy pay practices of the Scrooges who run the place.

The activists leafleted at the central library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street Dec. 11 to inform the “Friends of the Library” — contributors — about the simmering labor dispute that is undermining morale.

The fliers were another step in the local’s campaign to win raises for clerical and paraprofessional workers, who are paid less than their counterparts in the city’s two other library systems and municipal agencies.

In 2005, Clerks, Information Assistants and Technical Assistants were outraged when management boosted the pay of scores of Librarians who weren’t covered by an 8 percent pay hike granted to veteran Librarians a few years ago. The clerical and paraprofessional workers represent three-quarters of the NYPL’s staff.

“They gave $2 million to their Librarians and got concessions while blowing off the rest of the staff,” Local 1930 President Lynn Taylor told a patron who was waiting in line near the famous lion sculptures.

Local seeks pay equity
“This is a living wage campaign to get raises for the non-Librarian staff,” Taylor said. “With about $600 million in a private trust fund, management has the money.”

Hank Sambach, the local’s Information Assistant rep, handed out leaflets about the pay inequities and told patrons about the issues. “Please end the two-tier wage system,” he told passers-by. “We are supposed to be the nation’s premier library system, but our Information Assistants start at $26,500, about $1,500 less than similar workers in Brooklyn.”

The pay gap is an astonishing $2,300 between city clerical workers and NYPL clerical workers. Library Technical Assistants work in the privately funded research division, which is awash with money that could be used for raises.

Local 1930 has filed a series of out-of-title grievances and 200 reclassification requests in its push to improve salaries. Local Treasurer Carol Thomas charged that management is dragging its feet by not addressing these issues. She pointed out that pay is so low that many members must get second and even third jobs to survive.

Meanwhile, local leaders and DC 37 staff continue to press management to address the pay inequities. “We want fair compensation across the board,” said Anthony Wyche, vice president for LTAs.

— Gregory N. Heires