Bargaining Blog 6.9.23

The University responded to our most recent economic proposals at our bargaining session last Friday. We were encouraged to see them engage with many of our concerns and put forth several counters that we were able to reach tentative agreements on. This session was our most collaborative yet, and while we are still not satisfied with some of the more substantive economic pieces of the University’s proposals, we have a lot to work with and are encouraged by this progress. The University continues to reiterate they want a deal soon and we agree, but we want a deal that is best for all library workers and we continue to work to that end!

The tentative agreements we came to at this session—most of which codify existing benefits into our contract so they cannot be changed by the university without bargaining—include: 

  • Holidays (All agreed upon paid holidays and floating holidays for those staff who work on a holiday.) 

  • Personal Holidays (Our existing personal floating holiday accrual and policy.)

  • Bereavement Leave (Our existing bereavement leave policy.)

  • Release Time (We guaranteed that up to 5 union members will be paid release time to attend bargaining sessions for future contracts)

  • Incidental and Extended Sick Time (Our existing policies.)

  • University Benefits (This includes current and any future benefits related to educational assistance, retirement, and insurance plans provided to NU workers.)


Outstanding pieces where we have work to do include wages, librarian path to promotion, longevity pay, flexible work, professional development, and a few others. Your bargaining committee members will be working hard on these this week in hopes of continuing the collaboration and progress from this last session. 


Many thanks to all of the union members who were able to join the bargaining session over their lunch break. In addition to bargaining committee members, we had 9 more library workers in attendance and that show of strength and solidarity is important and appreciated! 


Our next bargaining session will be this Wednesday from 9-11am where we hope to see even more progress and a few more potential tentative agreements. If you would like to attend a future bargaining session over your lunch break, please email nullabororganization@gmail.com and we can share the details.


Feel free to reach out to a bargaining committee member with any questions. As always, we ask that you continue to show your support for our union by wearing buttons and changing Zoom backgrounds to our union logo. The stronger the union, the better the contract! Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up with the latest updates.

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