FVRL Board: Pay your library workers livable wages!

Library workers in Southwest Washington need community support as their struggle for a fair contract continues

VANCOUVER, Wash. (March 15, 2024) — Library workers at the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District (FVRL) continue to struggle to get a fair contract and they are seeking community support for their efforts to get livable wages.

FVRL workers serve residents across southwest Washington in rural, suburban, and urban settings in Klickitat and Skamania counties, most of Clark County, and parts of Cowlitz County. Their union, Washington Public Employees Association/UFCW 365, has organized supporters to send a message to FVRL administrators that raises for library workers are OVERDUE. And right now is another opportunity to send that message.

TAKE A STAND — There are three ways you can support FVRL workers:

1)  Sign their petition at change.org.

2) Email the Board of Trustees at trustees@fvrl.org and tell them to support library workers in getting the dignity of a living wage.

3) Attend a FVRL Board Meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 18 either remotely or in-person at the Three Creeks Community Library, 800-C NE Tenney Road in Vancouver.

Frontline FVRL library workers, security, couriers, and information technology specialists have been in negotiations since July 2023. WPEA reports that bargaining went well until they got to compensation and that FVRL administrators’ insulting offer on wages has led to an impasse. The union is calling for a mediator with the state Public Employee Relations Commission.

While FVRL’s new Executive Director has accepted nearly $200,000 in salary and administrators all make healthy 6-figure salaries, the rank-and-file library workers are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. FVRL management has spent tens of thousands of dollars on “market studies” every few years only to continue paying administrators very well and the rank-and-file poorly.

“I worked at FVRL for 13 years, and with a master’s degree my final wage was $17 an hour,” said Derya Ruggles, who is now an WPEA Organizing Specialist. “I know that communities in Southwest Washington care about their library workers and would not tolerate this economic injustice if they knew it was happening. That’s why we are taking this struggle public and asking people to speak up to the FVRL Board in support of the dignity of a living wage for all library workers.”

Please take action today by signing the FVRL library workers’ petition, by emailing the FVRL Board of Trustees at trustees@fvrl.org, and by attending the March 18 board meeting.