Penn Libraries staff members are attempting to unionize.
Credit: Jesse ZhangPenn Libraries staff members have expressed their intent to unionize by sending a letter to the director of the Penn Libraries and filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board.
The letter was signed by Penn Libraries librarians, curators, developers, and other staff and sent to Brigitte Weinsteiger, the H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and director of the Penn Libraries, on Friday morning. The letter expressed the signatories’ intent to unionize as Penn Libraries United. According to a press release from PLU, a “supermajority of eligible library staff have signed union representation cards.”
Penn Libraries support staff have been unionized since 1969 as the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees District Council 47 Local 590, and the new group aims to join the same local union.
“Structural issues motivating the unionization effort are longstanding,” the press release states. “PLU members cite unclear promotion procedures, inequitable raises, lack of transparency in decision-making, and an overreliance on term-limited positions as motivators for employees organizing.”
A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson and the Penn Libraries.
In the press release, Middle Eastern studies librarian Heather Hughes said that since she started at the library, she has seen “a lot of colleagues leave.”
“I want the Libraries to be a place where workers feel empowered and people feel like they can stay and grow,” Hughes added.
The PLU website states that if Penn does not “voluntarily recognize” the union, they will “proceed to an election” to vote to unionize and begin contract negotiations.
AFSCME District Council 47 also represents cultural workers at the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Penn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Please Touch Museum, and the Philadelphia Zoo.
“We are proud to stand with these Penn Libraries workers and other cultural workers organizing across Philadelphia,” President of AFSCME District Council 47 April Gigetts said.
The unionization effort comes after a semester of heightened labor organizing at Penn and after library support staff, Penn Museum workers, and graduate students previously formed unions. In June, Penn’s undergraduate and graduate resident advisors voted unanimously to ratify their first contract.
Weinsteiger began her tenure as director of the Penn Libraries on June 1. She served as interim director of the Penn Libraries for nine months after the previous director — who had served in the role since May 2018 —resigned.
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