Library Board Imposes New Contract on Workers

The Palos Verdes Library District board has implemented a new employment pact that includes a 1.5% raise and reductions in several benefits, including sick leave and personal holidays.

The contract, enacted Friday, follows six months of heated negotiations between the district and the union that represents the 63 employees who work in the Palos Verdes Peninsula’s three libraries. Last week, the district declared an impasse in its labor negotiations after the union refused the district’s proposed 1997-98 contract. The board voted to implement the terms of the contract instead of continuing negotiations through mediation.

“The district believes that this was a fair proposal and these changes, both in salary and benefits, are appropriate given our fiscal constraints and our need to use creativity in running the district,” said Diana Moreno, executive director of the district.

The district is facing a lawsuit over $2 million in repairs that need to be made to the remodeled Peninsula Center Library.

Employees, represented by Service Employees International Union, Local 347, were seeking a 3% raise and no reduction in benefits. Library workers said they are frustrated by the board’s decision to impose the one-year pact. They said morale is at “an all-time low.”

“What bothers us most is that the library board refused to go to mediation and went directly to implementing a contract of their choosing,” said Susan Sarno, a reference librarian and union representative. “We feel that the contract they have chosen is especially punitive and we are angered at the imposition of the loss in benefits.”