CLEVELAND — A tentative agreement has been reached between the union representing Cleveland Public Library employees and Cleveland Public Library, according to a union representative.
Nearly 400 Cleveland library workers have been without an employment contract since talks between the union and the library administration failed to produce a new agreement prior to the Jan. 1 deadline.
SEIU District 1199, the union representing Cleveland Public Library employees, announced Tuesday that a 10-day notice of intent to strike had been issued due to months of failed contract negotiations.
On Thursday, union members announced that they had reached a tentative agreement with the library.
Details of the tentative agreement will not be released until all members of the union have a chance to review the terms and vote on the agreement, which will take place Wednesday, Jan. 29, the representative said.
On Tuesday The Cleveland Public Library had issued the following statement on the union's intent to strike:
We have received the 10-day notice required by law from SEIU District 1199 that they intend to strike. If SEIU does indeed strike, we anticipate that it will begin at noon on Tuesday, February 4.
Unfortunately, an SEIU strike would directly impact our community. If SEIU does strike, the Library will temporarily close some branches and suspend some programs. The Library will try to maintain as many services as possible, especially meal programs and after school support for children across the city of Cleveland.
The Library will share updates regarding branch closures and service impacts via our website, social media platforms and the news.
We have made progress during our negotiations with SEIU over the past two months and have reached tentative agreement on all but five of the 27 articles. Our next negotiating session is set for January 23; and, both sides agreed to come back to the bargaining table on February 10 and February 11.
We urge SEIU to join us at the bargaining table to work together to avoid disruption of library-rich programs and services for our community.
If the union members vote in favor of the agreement next week, it will take effect immediately and the strike will be adverted.
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