As restructuring looms, morale craters at libraries
Morale among Saskatoon’s library workers is in tatters as fears about job security and pay cuts grow in the face of an ongoing restructuring.
The main issue facing the institution’s roughly 260 in-scope employees is that the “vast majority” of them will have to re-apply for similar jobs, some of them at lower pay grades, according to the union representing them.
“Morale is very low. Very low,” Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 2669 president Pamela Ryder said of the choice facing library workers, some of whom have already decided not to reapply and instead seek work elsewhere.
“There’s a lot of tears. There’s a lot of people taking sick leave. Change is difficult and all of the different insecurities about this change are making it very hard for people.”
The $21.8-million-per-year Saskatoon Public Library (SPL) unveiled its plan in November 2016 to move from “a traditional desk-based library service model to a community-led service model” with updated and modernized jobs as part of its five-year strategy.
The 28-page document does not describe upcoming changes to the library’s organizational structure, but an accompanying news release describes “new, flexible roles that will enable employees to identify and respond to community needs in efficient and meaningful ways.”
The deep uncertainty among staff is especially troubling because it comes four months after the library laid off 20 staff members, many of whom had decades of experience, in response to a now-restored $4.8 million cut handed down in the 2017-18 budget, Ryder said.
Director of Libraries and CEO Carol Cooley said the organization was left with no choice but to post jobs internally and conduct interviews because CUPE Local 2669 did not agree to the alternative transition process it proposed.
While job descriptions are expected to change, and some employees’ wages may be reduced, others will get a raise and the library will not consider external candidates until all existing employees interested in staying on have jobs, she said.
“Some people are genuinely frightened and others have actually expressed a lot of positive support and excitement. That doesn’t mean that they don’t feel some uncertainty as well, because there is uncertainty when you’re moving (from one) structure to another.” The union takes a different view. The SPL stands to lose highly educated public servants whose work makes an important difference in the community and have spent the last several months working under a cloud of uncertainty, Ryder said.
“We don’t know if ... everybody has the ability to move into new positions. So we’re working on getting more language on that from management, and getting them to talk to us about that.”
Cooley said she has held 30 employee town halls over the last four months and library workers have been consulted extensively.