GOSHEN- Most public employees are members of a labor union and if workers at the Goshen Public Library are successful in their effort to organize, they will join the union ranks as members of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA).
Around 40 people including library employees, residents from the community, and members of CSEA came to the library’s Board of Directors meeting Monday evening to show support for the employees and urge the board to legally recognize the employees’ effort to unionize.
One worker, Cathy LaRocca, who has been employed at the library for 35 years and is a board member of the Montgomery Library herself, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting and expressed her support of the effort to unionize. LaRocca is not alone; according to organizers, an “overwhelming majority” of the library’s employees have signed union authorization cards.
According to Harlene Kresse and Lisa Taylor, who along with another co-worker are leading the effort to organize, the vast majority of employees want to be represented by CSEA because they want to see changes in working conditions at the library.
“We are just asking for dignity, respect, transparency, and a seat at the table, and none of that is happening,” said Taylor. “It all comes down to a lack of respect.”
Taylor was referring to Catherine Lemmer, the library’s executive director. Lemmer was hired by the library board in early 2023, and according to Taylor and Kresse, Lemmer’s tenure as director has been rocky.
The organizers said that Lemmer has rolled out changes at the library that have impacted employees’ work assignments and work hours. They claim their efforts to discuss their concerns with Lemmer have fallen on deaf ears.
According to library officials, changes in work assignments and work hours are attributed to the aftereffects of the pandemic and the need to shift work schedules since the library’s relocation to a new building. The…
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