Spokane County library district unionizes, citing scheduling concerns

Alleging years of arbitrary decisions, last-minute schedule changes and lack of administrative transparency, the Spokane County Library District is unionizing.

Around 140 employees in the district filed for union recognition on Aug. 15, calling themselves the Spokane County Library District United, representing 10 branches in the district. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 2 assisted library workers in their efforts to unionize.

Spokane County Library District is one of the last nonunionized public library districts in the state, according to Council 2 Director Michael Rainey. Unions are typically certified 60-90 days after filing for union recognition. Once the union is certified, the library district will meet with union members to start negotiations for the employees’ first contract, which will likely include issues like scheduling concerns and compensation.

“The Spokane County Library District acknowledges that employees have a right to organize and is working through the initial steps with the Public Employee Relations Commission,” Spokane County Library District spokesperson Jane Baker said.

The Spokane County Library Union is unique because it’s technically two unions: one for supervisory employees and another for associates.

It’s unclear how the union will impact Spokane County. Spokane County CEO Scott Simmons and several county commissioners didn’t return messages seeking comments last week.

Unionization efforts began last year, since working at county libraries has become more difficult and unpredictable, North Spokane Library associate Marisa Claiborne said.

Some mornings, Claiborne will wake up to a phone call from management telling her she needs to work at a different library location that day. This is a common occurrence for Claiborne and other employees at county libraries, they say. Schedule changes often come without much warning from management and can add significant time and miles to an employee’s commute.

Permanent schedule changes that come with a week’s warning are common, assistant library manager Jacob O’Doherty said. He says part of why he joined the unionizing efforts was because the district is “coming up short of caring about people.”

Luckily, Claiborne doesn’t have children she needs to pick up from school or day care – if she did, she said she wouldn’t make pickups on time because of last-minute schedule adjustments. Other people who work at county libraries do, though.

These issues are directly from administrative staff and high-level executives who write the library policy and procedures, not the library board of trustees, O’Doherty said.

Library employees brought their concerns about schedule and location changes to administrative staff two years ago. No changes were made.

Unionizing is also about employees having a voice, Claiborne said.

“It’s very hard to speak to some of the people in higher-up positions,” Claiborne said. “We have to go through middle management to even be heard.”

And even when an associate brings a concern to a manager, change is unheard of, O’Doherty said.

“Someone brings you a concern, you bring it to admin and try to make a change and can’t do it,” O’Doherty said.

The union will not change how libraries operate for customers, but it would make library associates feel more secure in their jobs, Claiborne said.

“I want us all to feel like we can flourish in this job,” Claiborne said. “People quit when they hate their jobs. Unionizing is the opposite. This is loud dedication. I love my job, I love my colleagues. This is a place worth fighting for. I won’t stop fighting for it until we have equitable working conditions.”

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 2 represents 16,000 employees across Washington, including those who work for Spokane City Government and at the Spokane airport, Rainey said. Council 2 represents most of the large library unions in Washington, including Spokane’s, Rainey said.

“We believe it’s important that employees have a voice in the workplace and we help them advocate for better wages, benefits and working conditions,” Rainey said.