BUTTONS ALERT!! Local 1215 has buttons for staff to wear this budget season. The message is “Ask Me About Layoffs”– read more below on how you can respond, and how to speak to your own alder.
step 1: wear a button, talk to patrons!
[FYI! Wearing a union button in the workplace is a protected activity. If you have questions about your rights or are facing pushback from management, contact a steward immediately! Remember: comply with any directive from a superior (you can say you’re complying “under protest”) and then contact the Local right away so we can defend your rights.]
Patron: What’s your button about?
You: Well, the proposed city budget includes significant cuts to our staffing. We’re actually looking at the elimination of 89 vacant positions! You can think of these as “quiet layoffs.” People often don’t realize they’re happening, because they don’t get the kind of bad press that the elimination of filled positions would. But by cutting our vacant positions–which CPL would love to fill!–city council will be cutting services. These cuts add up year after year–last year CPL had 52 full-time equivalent positions cut. Less staff means we can’t plan programming, unexpected branch closures, and more. Are you interested in helping us prevent “quiet layoffs”?
[If “no,” thank them for listening! If “yes” –>]
You: Great! It’s important for patrons and residents of Chicago to speak out! We’re asking folks to call their aldermen and tell them that we need fully staffed and funded libraries. We all deserve quality library services and resources. That means 1) no “quiet layoffs”– that is, no elimination of vacant positions, 2) don’t slash the book budget in half! 3) alders need to support new sources of revenue like the corporate head and social media taxes! You can find your alder by googling “city of chicago alder lookup” and then entering your address.
Follow up by answering any questions they might have. If you don’t know the answer, be honest! That’s okay. Municipal budgets are large, complex documents, and can contain inconsistencies and unclear components. Tell the patron that you’ll try to find out, and send the question to the Local at afscme.local1215@gmail.com.
Step 2: Call your own alders (work and home)!
Find the alder for your home and work wards here!
When you call, focus on these points:
- Alders need to Vote Yes on new revenue. Library patrons and staff need you to support new sources of revenue–both those that are already in the budget and potential additional ones. Chicago Public Library system needs alders to vote yes on the corporate head tax, the TIF surplus, and the social media tax.
- Why? The elimination of vacant positions, a.k.a.”quiet layoffs.” Even with those new sources of revenue included, the mayor’s budget cuts almost 90 positions from our staff ranks: 40 full-time positions, and 49 in part-timers’ hours. (See the chart at the bottom of our post on budget takeaways, here.) The majority of our branches are ALREADY understaffed due to the expansion to Sunday hours in 2019 without additional staffing.
- Book budget slashed. Even WITH the new revenue, the mayor’s budget cuts our book budget IN HALF – from 10 million to 5 million. And even BEFORE this cut, our per capita collections budget was already worse than those of comparable big city library systems in the U.S. Without the corporate head tax and social media taxes, this will likely become an even more drastic slashing of our book funds. Our patrons need and deserve to have the resources we provide with that materials budget.
- Specifics about your home/work branch. Tell your alder how understaffing or other lack of resources/funding affects your home or work branch, specifically. Are you unable to plan programming because at any time someone might need to cover the desk? Do you only have part-time security or inadequate custodial coverage? HVAC broken? Have you been detailed to “sister branches”? What can you accomplish for your patrons when your location IS fully staffed.
- Consequences. If alders vote No on new revenue, they will be responsible for putting CPL in a situation where libraries will have to cut services–whether “officially” or simply due to the reality of lacking adequate staffing and resources. (Branches will sometimes fail to have enough staff to open; programming will get canceled because staff have to be detailed to other branches, or will have to cover reference desks; CPL will have to dip into overtime and other wasteful means to find minimal coverage, etc.)
- Conclusion: If you vote against new revenue sources, including the corporate head tax, then our libraries will suffer major losses in staffing and resources, including highly unpopular reductions in services.