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Carnegie Library workers reach tentative agreement on first union contract

The main branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, in Oakland.
90.5 WESA
The main branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, in Oakland.

Some 300 workers at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh have reached a tentative agreement on their first contract as members of the United Steelworkers union, the union announced Tuesday.

The four-year contract would cover eligible works at 19 Carnegie Library branches.

In a statement, the union said that, if ratified, the agreement would provide “significant gains” in giving workers a seat at the table in library decision-making, as well as in workplace health and safety, pay equity for the lowest-paid workers, and affordable health care. A USW spokesperson declined to provide further details, saying the USW would wait until the agreement was ratified, likely sometime early in the new year.

“I’m so proud of every worker who shared their stories and fought for our first contract,” Kira Yeversky, a clerk at the Homewood library branch, said in a statement. “They displayed true solidarity, and I can’t wait to see what this next chapter brings for all of us.”

Library workers had voted to join the union in August 2019.

Bill is a long-time Pittsburgh-based journalist specializing in the arts and the environment. Previous to working at WESA, he spent 21 years at the weekly Pittsburgh City Paper, the last 14 as Arts & Entertainment editor. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and in 30-plus years as a journalist has freelanced for publications including In Pittsburgh, The Nation, E: The Environmental Magazine, American Theatre, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bill has earned numerous Golden Quill awards from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania. He lives in the neighborhood of Manchester, and he once milked a goat. Email: bodriscoll@wesa.fm