PEORIA, Ill. — Peoria Public Library workers are demanding faster movement on their contract negotiations as they enter their third month without a new contract.
An internal survey of Peoria Library workers from the union showed nearly half were on some form of government assistance. A new hire at the library makes minimum wage, which is the same pay for high school students who shelve books at the same facility.
“Both sides have compelling arguments but at the end of the day we can’t keep our people in poverty,” Union steward Gray Baker said. “It’s kind of unacceptable and we want just to get a level of pay that gets our employees to not have to face that.”
Increased pay is the prime focus while negotiating the new contract, but ASFCME Local 3464 said progress has been slow. The previous agreement expired when 2023 started, and the protestors said they can’t go on much longer without a raise.
While the details of negotiations are being kept out of media and public view, it sounds like from union members that the city said it doesn’t have the funds.
“We’ve been told this is simply the way the funding structure of this library works, and we can’t do much and their hands are tied,” AFSCME Local 3464 Vice President Anthony Walraven said.
Dozens of union members and residents came in support of the library staff. The Board of Trustees did not talk about negotiation progress during the open meeting. They did discuss it in their executive session.
“I met this month with Patrick Urich our city manager and Kyle Cratty our finance manager to discuss a little more about library finance, we had some good meetings,” Executive Director Randall Yelverton said.
Prior to Tuesday night’s meeting, Yelverton said the city had a “long history of respectful and productive negotiations,” and hopes to find a mutually beneficial agreement.
The contract could last from two to three years. An increase in funding would have to come from the city and may require a tax levy.
