Victoria library lockout over; pay equity issue resolved

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080403.BCLIBRARIES03/TPStory/National

MURRAY LANGDON

April 3, 2008

A six-week lockout of library workers in Victoria is over after the two sides solved the contentious issue of pay equity.

Unionized library workers will receive an annual 2-per-cent increase for the next four years to bring them up to par with other library workers in the province. They'll also receive a 3-per-cent general wage increase, giving them what amounts to a 20-per cent raise over four years.

"We're very happy to get a deal done," library board chair Chris Graham said. "This is a real victory for the public. It's a service that has been sorely missed."

Without a contract for 16 months, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 410 had been involved in a job action since last fall, to draw attention to their demands for better wages.

They said a 1992 agreement dealing with pay equity had never been fully or fairly implemented.

After a series of noon-hour walkouts and their refusal to collect fines, the library board felt it had no choice but to close the doors.

FULL story at link.