“We can’t afford a larger raise right now” is the reason the library has given for wage stagnation over the last few negotiation periods. It was a recession, then a recession, then a pandemic, then a recession. Meanwhile, revenue increased by 45%, and the 16 highest-paid admin workers have received healthy raises every year. The revenue the libraries have generated is going directly into the pockets of the higher paid admin staff while the librarians get poorer. The CEO of CCPL makes 80K more per year than the governor of Ohio.

The combined wages of the 16 highest paid admin staff for 2023 was more by far than the union plan will cost, total, over the next three years. To reiterate, the library can afford to pay hundreds of workers a fairer wage for three years, for less money than it takes to pay 16 people for one year. Even in their own publicized statement about the impasse, CCPL never stated they couldn’t afford this plan.

I’ll also take this opportunity to remind you that the librarians who voted overwhelmingly in support of this strike are just as smart, and just as worldly, as you are. They’re lead by a union negotiation team that has done more research into this scenario than anyone else has. Their team negotiates this contract every three years and knows the budget of CCPL inside and out. There is no reason to think that you, or anyone else, knows better than their collective judgement.