TIMBERLAND REGIONAL LIBRARY SYSTEM interfered with employee rights, discriminated against employees and illegally refused to bargain, according to a preliminary finding by the Public Employees’ Relations Commission (perc).
The commission made the ruling in response to Council 2’s filing of an unfair labor practice charge against the library system.
The filing followed several unsuccessful attempts by the local union to initiate bargaining with the system’s administration. It also was a result of retaliation by the administration against the workers for joining the union.
The face-off began after Timberland employees voted to join Council 2 in August last year. After the election, the library administration filed a complaint with perc, alleging that the affiliation process was not conducted properly.
In the meantime, the association went ahead with regular bargaining with management as Timberland already had an employee association, the status of which was not changed when the workers joined Council 2.
“The contract expired at the end of the year and so nothing prevented the employees from bargaining with the administration,” explains Council 2 Director of Organizing Bill Keenan.
But not only did the employer not recognize Council 2, they refused to bargain with the association. “They have acted as though the association does not exist,” Keenan says.
As a result, employees had to pay their own medical insurance premiums — the first time they have had to do so in the history of the library association.
The premiums are part of the negotiations in the contract, but they expired with the contract at the end of last year.
When Timberland, responding to a letter from the association concerning the affiliation vote, continued to refuse to bargain, the union launched the unfair labor practice charge.
