Toronto Public Library Workers Union
Maureen O'Reilly: "Key Player in Upcoming City Negotiations"
From the Toronto Sun:
"Labour negotiations with city hall don’t always go by the book.
Along with the contracts for CUPE Locals 79 and 416, the contract for the Toronto Public Library Workers Union CUPE Local 4948 — the only union to go on strike during the Rob Ford era — also runs out at the end of this year.
Local president Maureen O’Reilly — who led the union through the 11-day strike in 2012 — said she hopes there will be a “different approach” during this round of bargaining.
“One that will be respectful of all the parties and one where we can sit down and really talk about our issues,” O’Reilly said. “We really went out on strike in 2012 just not against the Ford administration but against the continuing inroads of precarious work into our workplace ... We’re really hoping that we can sit down and roll up our sleeves and have some real good discussion and look for ways for solutions.”
Library workers experience the highest level of part-time work — 50% of the membership — within the City of Toronto, O’Reilly said.
Read the full article here.
Happy Pride, Toronto!
The rain did not prevent the Toronto Public Library Pride Alliance from joining the 2015 Pride March. And as everyone knows, rainbows follow the rain :)
Thanks to the TPL Pride Alliance for all their hard work organizing our participation. 
Dreaming of a Full-Time Job
The Toronto Star has been running an excellent series on precarious work. Library workers and precarious work are in the spotlight in the June 2 installment.
Read the full article here.
Excerpt from the Toronto Star by Laurie Monsebraaten
Dreaming of a full-time job
Ada Jaworska, 24, has been shelving books part-time at the Toronto Public Library for nine years and loves her job.
But the York University graduate is desperate to move to full-time so she can afford to move out of her parents’ house and get on with her life.
As a permanent part-time employee, Jaworksa is guaranteed 14 hours a week and earns about $850 a month after deductions. She picks up extra hours to build seniority and improve her chance of full-time work, but it’s a struggle.
"I'm told it could take up to 12 years," she says.
"It's a long time."
Local 4948 Joins Rouge Valley Health System Bed Race!
The Toronto Public Library Workers Local 4948 are proud to participate in the 2015 Rouge Valley Health System Bed Race to raise money for their surgical unit.
Please consider supporting our team for this worthy cause or coming out to cheer us on!
Mayworks Festival Toronto May 1 May 14
[Photo: Haseena Manek]
WOMEN OF LABOUR AND THE ARTS: Congratulations to the winners of the latest Min Sook Lee Labour Arts Awards. Left to right: Maureen O’Reilly, Margie Adam, Faith Nolan, Althea Balmes and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo. Here’s the great write-up by Haseena Manek for Our Times Magazine.
The annual Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts is in full swing in Toronto (May 1 to May 14), and in Halifax (April 30 to May 16): Mayworks Halifax Festival of Working People & the Arts.
Don't miss out!
April 28 is Canada's National Day of Mourning
"Work for the Living, Remember the Dead"
Today is Canada's National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured at work. Read CUPE Ontario's statement on the significance of this annual event on April 28.
Where did this day of observance originate? Right here in Canada. The Canadian Union of Public Employees started Workers' Memorial Day in 1984. The next year the Canadian Labour Congress declared it a national day, which became law in 1990 with the Official Mourning Day's Act. Why April 28? This was the day Workers Compensation Act was passed in 1911.
Today's Headlines:
Seeking Justice for Fallen Workers Toronto Star
Day of Mourning recognizes 7 work-related deaths in Windsor CBC
International Day of Mourning: Number of Workplace Deaths on the Rise in Canada rabble.ca
National Day of Mourning: A call to keep workplace safety top of mind Canadian Occupational Safety
National Day Of Mourning: This Is How Many Canadians Die At Work The Huffington Post
Workplace deaths remembered at National Day of Mourning ceremony in High Park Inside Toronto
Joseph Maloney: We need to work harder to stop workplace deaths The Province
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