CSEA member Deborah Nelson is one of a number of Mount Vernon Public Library Unit members wearing a CSEA T-shirt to work each day as part of an ongoing contract campaign.
CSEA activist Cheryl Thomas is one of many Mount Vernon Public Library Unit members promoting the unit’s contract campaign by wearing a custom t-shirt to work each day.
Chris Williams, secretary-treasurer of the Mount Vernon Public Library Unit, promotes the unit’s contract campaign by wearing a custom t-shirt to work each day.
MOUNT VERNON — A public library is known for being a quiet oasis, so our Mount Vernon Public Library Unit members are sending a strong message without even whispering a word.
After working four years without a contract, unit leaders decided it was time to invest in T-shirts, a common union solidarity tactic during a contract campaign.
With a long history of protracted contract campaigns under his belt, Unit President Gary Newman wanted to add a different twist, to which members agreed.
Instead of wearing shirts once per week as a show of solidarity, every day is T-shirt day for CSEA members at the Mount Vernon Public Library.
Unit leaders gave each member five custom-made T-shirts that they were asked to wear at all times at work, even when attending off-site meetings.
That consistency has opened up a conversation about the unit’s contract negotiations with library patrons and has allowed workers to gain community support.
“I like coming to work and seeing everyone else wearing the shirts,” said CSEA Mount Vernon Public Library Unit member Shanese Brown. “It’s a good feeling knowing we are all united and working towards the same goal.”
Chris Williams, the unit secretary-treasurer, said the T-shirts haven’t evoked the same positive response from the library Board of Trustees as workers have gotten from community members, but workers are hardly fazed.
“[Library board members] think they own us, and this is a daily reminder to them that they don’t,” Williams said.
Instead, the diverse unit of professional, clerical and maintenance employees, are using the right libraries are known for defending as members make their case for a fair contract: free speech.
— Jessica Ladlee
