After nearly two years of negotiations, workers at Enoch Pratt Free Library have ratified their first-ever union contract — a move they say marks historic progress in securing workers’ rights but falls short in numerous areas.
In a vote on Aug. 1, members of Pratt Workers United voted 198-3 to approve the contract, following a tentative agreement reached with library leadership in late June. Though workers said there is much more to fight for in future negotiations, the contract is a historic achievement that includes a $1,000 ratification bonus, opens up negotiations for wage increases, and bolsters health and safety protections for more than 300 workers, including custodians, circulation staff, and library associates.
This is the first union contract in the library’s more than 140-year-old history, and it comes just a year after activists won a hard-fought battle to guarantee library workers’ right to unionize statewide.
“This is important from a historical perspective just because of how old this institution is and how long there’s been a fight to unionize it,” said Josie Breck, a library associate and member of the union’s bargaining team and organizing committee.
“This is important from a historical perspective just because of how old this institution is and how long there’s been a fight to unionize it.”
Josie Breck, a library associate and member of the union’s bargaining team and organizing committee.
“I’ve heard about attempts as early as the 1930s. I feel the historical significance of it.”
The ratified contract, which also includes discrimination protections, came after multiple pressure campaigns by union members, who fought to speed up the bargaining process as it dragged on. The pre-ratification pushes by union members resulted in the first-ever cost-of-living adjustments for part-time employees.
Jackson Curreri, an office support specialist and member of the union’s bargaining team and organizing committee, noted that the contract does include wins such as the ability for employees to have more discretion over where they work when their branches are closed because of maintenance and other issues.
Still, there are myriad rights that union members must continue to fight for.
The union still must negotiate pay raises and paid leave for part-time employees, he said. Its members also plan to fight to ensure that part-time employees earn the same wages as those working full time.
Those negotiations will be crucial not just for union members but for Baltimoreans who rely on libraries for a variety of services and resources.
“You want good quality library staff, and if we are paid less and provided poorer working conditions than surrounding counties, then you’re not going to get the same quality of employees coming here,” Curreri said. “They’re going to go to other places.”
“If workers feel burned out and underpaid, that stress will come with them to work.”
Pratt workers first launched their bid to unionize with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, specifically AFSCME Maryland Council 3, in June 2022. Union members have fought for a contract since, aiming to guarantee better working conditions for employees across the city’s 22 Pratt branches.
Union members blamed leadership turnover and disinterest in bargaining as primary reasons negotiations dragged out for nearly two years, and Curreri added that library leadership also demonstrated “incompetence” in terms of its ability to price out financial proposals for the union.
“Every time we would try to schedule at the beginning of bargaining, maybe the first six to eight months, things went pretty efficiently,” Curreri said. “But it seemed like they decided that they didn’t really want to continue with that positive relationship. They started to take forever to respond to us. Oftentimes, they just wouldn’t respond at all.”
Breck added that library leadership appeared “aloof” throughout negotiations, which also suffered due to turnover in library leadership.
In a statement, Enoch Pratt Free Library President and CEO Chad Helton characterized the union negotiations as a success for both parties.
“Contract negotiations can take time, and this process was no exception. Everyone involved worked diligently to reach a fair and thoughtful agreement, and I’m very happy with the outcome,” Helton said.
“I believe strongly in the right to unionize, and I see this contract as a meaningful step forward for the library and our staff. It helps ensure fairness in the workplace and sets a strong foundation for collaboration moving ahead. I’m looking forward to working closely with union leadership — including regular monthly meetings with stewards — as we continue our shared mission of serving the Baltimore community.”
Though union members believe the contract did not go far enough, they described it as a historic stepping stone by which additional workers’ rights can be achieved down the line.
The moment has cultural significance as well, Breck said, as union members can be walking examples of the U.S. labor movement — one that has decreased in size since its heyday but still maintains strong, progressive roots.
“There’s a potential to really have a more radical culture within the library that can be defended by the union,” she said.
The ratification vote also led to 71 new union members signing up, meaning Pratt Workers United is growing in numbers — and potentially bargaining power — through more employee participation in the movement.
The labor movement in Maryland’s library systems has had a tough battle; it wasn’t until the Library Workers Empowerment Act, signed by Gov. Wes Moore last year, that all library employees in the state were guaranteed the ability to unionize.
Activists had to fight for three years to get the bill passed. Previously, library unions’ ability to organize varied from county to county, making widespread unionization efforts among libraries significantly more difficult.
Nicole Dvorak, a union activist and former executive member of the Baltimore County Public Library United union, said library systems statewide have attempted to crack down on unionization for years — and Pratt Workers United’s success is a crowning achievement.
“They lobbied against it, and that’s very common in my experience, unfortunately,” Dvorak said, adding that the rights of library workers are crucial to keeping libraries open and well-resourced.
“The private industry has always been meddling in public sector unions. They don’t want to see it happen. They’re very invested in making sure that public sector workers are beaten down because that means they can continue substandard conditions for their workers.”
At Enoch Pratt, workers said the next steps will be wage negotiations, a crucial part of bargaining. Those negotiations are expected to take place soon, but an exact timeline is unclear.
Other unionized libraries in the state include the Prince George’s County Memorial Library system; the Montgomery County Public Library system; the Baltimore County Public Library system; the Howard County Library System; and the Anne Arundel County Public Library system.
Harford County Public Library employees are also in the process of unionizing.