You can expect a packed house at tonight’s Daniel Boone Regional Library board of trustees meeting in Columbia.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3311 and union supporters say they plan “to flood” the meeting with supporters. The union is calling on library officials to come to a tentative agreement as soon as possible and say that library staff have faced anti-union comments from management during negotiations.
The union wants higher wages and health care benefits. Wages and benefits appear to be the primary sticking points. Daniel Boone Regional Library spokeswoman Mitzi St. John tells 939 the Eagle that everyone is optimistic that progress will be made on negotiating what she calls the remaining four articles before December 31.
“Two of the articles concern wages and health care, and the Daniel Boone Regional Library administration feels that the bargaining teams are close to reaching an agreement on these two significant topics. The preliminary budget approved by the DBRL board of trustees included an across-the-board five percent raises for all staff. DBRL administration is working with representatives of the DBRL Workers United to improve wages and benefits that stay within the library’s expected 2024 budget,” St. John says.
She says the next bargaining session will take place after Thanksgiving, on Tuesday November 28. The Daniel Boone Regional Library’s budget operates on the calendar year, and St. John says library administrators want to be able to make adjustments to the preliminary budget to present it to the board of trustees for approval in December.
Tonight’s meeting begins at 6 at the Daniel Boone Regional Library on West Broadway. St. John says 95 percent of the library’s budget comes from property taxes collected in Boone and Callaway counties.
