Letter from Gleeson Librarians

Letter from Gleeson Librarians

June 17, 2020

Dear Fellow USFFA Members,

Thank you for all of the supportive comments that we’ve heard from USFFA members for our probationary librarians. We know that the USFFA Executive Board and negotiating team members are committed to protecting probationary librarians from termination and we are grateful for their efforts. We’d like to take a moment to share with the general USFFA membership why this is a crucial goal for bargaining this summer. 

  1. At-Risk Members: Probationary librarians, who make up one third of Gleeson librarians (6 of 19), are the only USFFA members who are still very vulnerable to termination during the upcoming academic year. The administration guaranteed only 60 days notice of termination for probationary librarians as opposed to a year’s protection.

  2. Equity: USFFA voted to prioritize protecting term and probationary faculty in the May agreement with the administration because we view job security for all faculty and librarians as the most significant goal of the union right now. This is an honorable and ethical goal and we need to continue to fight for this for all our members.

  3. Shared Sacrifice: Like all USFFA members, Librarians will be affected  by pay freezes/cuts and other concessions that are intended to protect term and probationary faculty from termination. 

  4. Solidarity: Librarians and faculty are equally integral to student academic success. We must not let the administration diminish the value of one segment of USFFA’s membership in exchange for stronger protection of other members. This is a classic divide and conquer strategy.   

Our intention is to raise awareness of the issues at stake in the June round of negotiations and to ask for your support. Working together, we can protect the jobs of all USFFA members.

In solidarity,

Gleeson Librarians
Nicola Andrews
Debbie Benrubi
Matthew Collins
Amy Gilgan
John Hawk
Colette Hayes
Sherise Kimura
Anders Lyon
Gina Murrell
Annie Pho
Annie Reid
Charlotte Roh
Brian Schumacher
Penny Scott
Claire Sharifi
Gina Solares
Randy Souther
Carol Spector
Justine Withers