Ajax library workers ratified a new collective agreement on September 24, concluding 16 months of bargaining with the Ajax Public Library. The employer ratified the deal on September 30.
CUPE 3565, the union that represents full- and part-time library workers in the Town of Ajax, narrowly averted a strike on September 21 when they achieved a tentative agreement shortly after the strike deadline.
“Our members should feel proud of what they achieved in this round of bargaining,” said Elaine Lievaart, acting president of CUPE 3565. “We did more than defeat the employer’s concessions; we won improvements for all library workers.”
A key demand by the union was the introduction of a $2-per-hour premium for all employees scheduled to work on Sundays. Library workers were the only group of full-time unionized municipal employees in Ajax without any kind of premium pay on weekends. All library workers – full-time, part-time, and pages – will now have access to the premium.
“It was important for the union that every member get this improvement,” said Lievaart. “When the employer offered it to some workers, but tried to exclude others, we said: ‘No way!’”
The gain sets a precedent for other library workers in Durham Region who do not have access to any form of premium pay on evenings or weekends, and who will soon be entering into bargaining with their own employers.
“This really is a question of fairness for all municipal workers, no matter what part of the municipality they work in,” said Devon Ward, CUPE 3565 spokesperson. “We hope that the gains we made in our contract will also be possible for library workers across the Region.”
CUPE 3565 bargaining team presented the agreement in detail at a special members’ meeting on September 24, where members voted overwhelmingly to ratify the deal.
