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Toronto Library Strike --- a mention
Tue, 2012-03-20 13:17
#1
Toronto Library Strike --- a mention
Tue, 2012-03-20 13:22
#2
I hope this is not a repeat - although that would be nice - of a thread that is thoroughgoing in it's protest against Ford's attempt to destroy the Toronto library system, and the implications of that for a YOUNG and vulnerable readership...not yet given over to more expensive, up-to-date, conspicuously consumable, less affordable gadgets from the IT world.
Wed, 2012-03-21 16:54
#3
M. Spector
Actually, the TPL is crammed full of expensive gadgets from the IT world (what the rest of us call "computers" and "DVDs") and there are lineups to use the terminals. Less and less space is being devoted to books and magazines and the inventory of those items has been cut back dramatically.
Wed, 2012-03-21 17:11
#4
Actually, the TPL is crammed full of expensive gadgets from the IT world (what the rest of us call "computers" and "DVDs") and there are lineups to use the terminals. Less and less space is being devoted to books and magazines and the inventory of those items has been cut back dramatically.
They should have triple copies of every book and more card files. And fire those IT slackers.
And thank god my general practitioner still uses paper files. I love it when he fumbles through them looking for my personal info. It's reassuring to know there are still good old fashioned country doctors doing things right. And the other docs must think he's cute for clinging to imperial measures.
Wed, 2012-03-21 17:55
#5
Actually, the TPL is crammed full of expensive gadgets from the IT world (what the rest of us call "computers" and "DVDs") and there are lineups to use the terminals. Less and less space is being devoted to books and magazines and the inventory of those items has been cut back dramatically.
Yes, going all to IT hell, like the Cambridge public library system, on whose board I sat for nearly four years.
No, I mentioned the kids losing out because those computers don't fit in their school bags worth a tinker's damn, and the marginalized of the Big Smoke wouldn't have something available to them at home, anyway. Just trying to break through the IT fog...and the curious avoidance of labour mattters where libraries are concerned.
Wed, 2012-03-21 19:33
#6
Sounds like they just need bigger school bags is all. They should pay me to troubleshoot for them.
Wed, 2012-03-21 19:54
#7
M. Spector
In a Toronto poll that CUPE commissioned last week, two-thirds of Torontonians agreed that it was a good idea for library workers to strike over job security. - [url=http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/johnbon/2012/03/toronto-public-library-w... Bonnar[/url]
Thu, 2012-03-22 11:43
#8
Sounds like they just need bigger school bags is all. They should pay me to troubleshoot for them.
Getting through to the self-obsessed can be difficult. The library employees make clear what is at stake,for themselves and some significant others:
|"We worked around the clock last weekend, extending the deadline several times trying to find a solution. At the end, the City’s negotiators would not budge from their demand for the right to fire librarians and staff anytime they want, for whatever reason they want.
This is the stumbling block.
In all good conscience, it is a demand that we cannot accept. Especially after you and thousands of others defended our public library with such passion and conviction. For if we did, the door would be wide open for Mayor Ford and his allies on Council to fire the staff that run your neighbourhood branch, then close it. Or, to fire staff to make it easy to privatize entire library services.
The key for Mayor Ford is to have the unfettered right to fire library staff. That would allow him to close branches, cut programs and privatize services at will.
When the 2012 Library budget was passed, we escaped deeper cuts by just one vote. Luckily for library lovers, one of Mayor Ford’s allies on Council was absent that day. So we will have the same struggle to protect our public library during next year’s budget process. In the meantime, Mayor Ford is preparing by trying to win the right to chop over half the entire staff of the Toronto Public Library.
Don’t forget, since 2011 Toronto Public Library service for the Hospital for Sick Children has been cut, service to Bridgepoint Hospital has been cut, the Urban Affairs Library closed, and the service desk for the Centre for People with Disabilities at Toronto Reference Library has been closed.
The Library Board refuses to say why they are so keen to have these new powers to fire staff. But it must be so important that they are willing to shutter our public library to win this right.
After Mayor Ford campaigned on a promise to cut gravy but not services, I will leave it to others to draw their own conclusions."
Mon, 2012-03-26 20:23
#9
And the library workers are still the most militant of all those facing Ford.
Sat, 2012-03-31 08:21
#10
"I am so happy to be writing to tell you that our public library re-opens today!
I am even more pleased to let you know that we now have an agreement that provides some insurance against unilateral service cuts for library patrons.
Without a doubt, we did not achieve this alone. You and tens of thousands of others who have defended our public library during the past year proved to be key in achieving this happy outcome.
Thank you for all you have done in support of our public library and its staff.
Yours sincerely,
Maureen O’Reilly
President
Toronto Public Library Workers Union
OurPublicLibrary.to
The adult, financially able, e-book society of advanced technology can again relapse.