VICTORIA—Employees of the Greater Victoria Public Library say it’s time the City of Victoria delivered on a more than 10-year-old promise to pay them the same wages as other municipal employees doing comparable work in the Capital Region.
The library workers, members of CUPE 410, today launched a campaign called “Overdue” that calls attention to the unfair wage gap.
“Right now, the clerks who check out your books get three dollars an hour less than the attendants who take your fee in the parkade below them,” says CUPE 410 president Ed Seedhouse.
“We’re saying that our jobs are just as important, so we should be paid accordingly. The City promised us in 1996 that we would achieve pay equity with city hall employees, but now that promise is more than 10 years overdue.”
“You wouldn’t keep your books overdue for that long; nor should the City leave a promise that long overdue.”
Seedhouse says the union is calling on municipal politicians, who control the budget of the GVPL, to finally deliver on that promise.
“People in Victoria love their libraries and appreciate the work that we do,” he said, “so we’re asking them to contact their municipal councils and mayors to negotiate a fair deal with library workers. They can do that by visiting www.overduepromise.ca.”
CUPE 410 represents 220 library workers in the GVPL system at branches in Victoria, Saanich, Central Saanich, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, Colwood, Langford, Mechosin and View Royal.
The campaign launch comes as CUPE 410 continues to bargain for a fair contract.