Cleveland Public Library Employees Vote to Approve Strike

Unionized Cleveland Public Library employees on Sunday voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike following months of negotiations on a new contract.

Ninety-seven percent of the 270 who voted were in favor. Four-hundred CPL staffers are part of the union through SEIU.

“We’ve been working under an expired contract for seven months and the people are getting angry,” an employee told Scene under the condition of anonymity. “We’re hoping our administration and the union can come to a fair agreement before we go on strike,.”

Those hundreds of employees—including librarians, janitors and maintenance staff—have been working with CPL leaders since last fall to come to an agreement on a possible pay increase to match years of inflation. Union members have also urged CPL to deal with staff shortages, handle workplace safety conerns and cut down on outsourcing.

SEIU and its members have attended about 30 bargaining meetings since January, an SEIU spokesperson wrote in a statement. One-third of the contract has been “tentatively” agreed upon, they said.

Money spent by CPL on consultants and lawyers is better spent on hiking employees’ salaries, they say, and “better spent strengthening library services, investing in staffing and securing a fair contract that supports the employees who keep Cleveland’s libraries running every day.”

In a statement, a CPL spokesperson said, “As of today, there are now seven more bargaining sessions scheduled into August. The issues at the bargaining table are employee wages, benefits, and working conditions, and that is where the Library is directing its time and attention. The Library is reviewing SEIU’s proposal and is prepared to schedule additional dates, if necessary, to reach a fair and sustainable agreement that supports employees and ensures the Library’s long-term strength.”

If those 400 do strike, CPL’s Main Building and its two dozen other branches will attempt to stay open in some capacity, as they did during the pandemic, another employee not authorized to comment to media told Scene.

“I don’t know if we could keep all of our 27 branches open though,” they said.

“The Library has a plan should SEIU decide to strike,” a CPL spokesperson said. “The Library would like to avoid disruption of library services to our community and will share any service updates via its website and social media platforms.”

Unionized employees for the Cuyahoga County Public Library system authorized a strike two years ago but it never came to fruition. A bargaining agreement was approved in July 2024.

CPL employees could strike as early as August 24, a spokesperson said.