Contract Ratification: What's taking so long?

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Written by Rich Robinson

Monday, 22 September 2008

Last Tuesday (September 16, 2008), we finished negotiations on a contract to cover the next three years. Since then, we've not had a lot to report, even though we've been busy. This post is to tell you what's going on.

Fundamentally, we're working toward a ratification vote. But that involves more than merely scheduling and conducting a vote. Here are the steps, the rationale for each step, and the status of each step.

Step 1. We must receive and review the total contract, comparing what is provided to us to what we believe we negotiated. Why? There are anecdotes from previous contracts where inadvertent typos went into the contract, were voted on, and became the contract. So we must review the contract thoroughly before we submit it to you, the membership, for a vote. The status: we're still waiting to receive the contract from the administration, whose team is preparing it. (A quick note to the administration: We know you guys read our site and we're eagerly awaiting the contract...)

Step 2. We must prepare an executive summary. The executive summary will be published before the full contract. This summary will be written to outline changes and summarize the proposed contract. Why? Because the entire contract, with its 60 plus articles, is very complex and can be quite confusing. By providing a concise executive summary, we'll make it easier to understand what the new contract offers. The status: Look for the executive summary in the next day or two.

Step 3. We need to schedule a vote and coordinate time for the team to present the contract and time for the membership to vote. Obviously, we cannot vote until we have made the contract available for review by the membership, so this is, in part, held up by Step 1. With the faith that we will get the contract in a timely manner, we have moved ahead with scheduling a vote for Tuesday, October 7th.

We looked for ways to hold sessions at different locations, but could not find a way to make schedules work. So we've reserved the auditorium at the Main Library for three sessions on October 7th. There will be a session at 9:30 am, a session at 12:30 pm, and a session at 4:30 pm session. Each session will be characterized by a presentation on the contract by the negotiating team and time to vote. Votes will be counted after the final session. More details will be released as the vote nears.

Step 4. The Library Board must also ratify the contract. They typically do this after Union members ratify the contract. The board vote will most likely happen at the October Board meeting, which is on the 15th.

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