Strike/lockout averted at public library

Sault Ste. Marie Public Library has reached a collective agreement with its part-time staff, members of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 67.

The four-year agreement was ratified behind closed doors Monday night by members of the library's board of directors.

It includes 1.6 per cent increases each year over the four years of the agreement.

The 37 part-timers had been in negotiations for more than one year.

Their contract expired two years ago.

CUPE Local 67 represents library clerks, pages and reference technicians.

At an earlier closed meeting on Monday, Feb. 13, the library board voted that "if bargaining is not successful on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, meaning no recommended package is accepted by the union's negotiating team to bring back to the membership, it is permitted that the board's negotiating committee is permitted to file a no-board report....If no agreement is reached by the seventeenth day after the no-board report has been filed, the board's negotiating committee, we are permitted to direct a vote."

Provincial labour law requires unions and management to use the government's conciliation services before engaging in a strike or lockout.

At any time after an initial meeting with the conciliator, either union or management may request a no-board report, indicating that differences can't  be resolved and no conciliation board should be appointed.

A lockout or strike is legally possible on the seventeenth day after a no-board report is issued by the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

Best book sale ever!

In other news, insiders say the Friends of the Library Three-Day March Break Sale will be a must-attend for local bibliophiles.

That's because a big part of the collection from the recently closed Churchill branch library will be available for 50 cents each or three books for a loonie, including recent hardcover fiction.

The sale will be Mar. 14-16 in the front lobby of Centennial Library at 50 East Street.

Hours extended at basement book store

Under the leadership of Susan Hall, the Friends of the Library book store in the Centennial Library's basement is enjoying significantly increased sales.

The popular book store is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and Monday hours were recently extended to 7 p.m.

Free books at hotels

Friends of the Library has started offering free fiction to guests at local hotels including Sleep Inn, Fairfield Inn and Suites, Ambassador Hotel and Super 8.

Hotel guests are encouraged to take a book and possibly leave a book in its place.