[ APRIL 2021 ] AL MOA VOTE
[ [ we did it ! ] ] • [ [ THE AL MOA WAS REJECTED ! ] ] • [ [ votes = 328 no vs. 111 yes ] ]
This AL MOA primarily benefits the Library, not union membership.
We are not here to give things up to our employer. We are here to ensure our employer doesn’t exploit us. We don’t need to help one of the most well known cultural institutions in the world—where the president makes almost 700k more than the highest-paid union employee1—take our hard-earned time and money. Receiving one additional floating holiday does not make up for the financial losses associated with the proposed Annual Leave cap component of the AL MOA2.
We earn our annual leave. We should be able to use it!
Currently, staff get paid 100% of accumulated Annual Leave (AL) upon retirement, resignation, termination, or death. AL does not expire, nor does it get rolled over to sick leave. If this AL MOA passes, hundreds of hours of AL would be moved to sick leave, which is only paid out at 15% upon retirement only3. Beyond the “grandfathered” and “banked” hours4, if this MOA passes, workers will lose payout for 85% of their unused, accumulated AL.
Additionally, this cap on AL would be especially disadvantageous for public-facing workers whose AL requests are routinely denied due to restrictive AL policies, lack of seniority, and understaffed branches. This AL MOA would penalize workers for unused AL without addressing the present systemic issues that prevent many workers from using the earned AL in the first place.
We are only voting on what is on this MOA document.
It would be ✨ great ✨ if the proposed AL Cap resulted in pay raises, a four-day work week, more hiring, or more comprehensive parental leave benefits, but we have been given no assurances any of these would occur by passing this. Working in a field with low wages5, in a high-cost-of-living city, and in the absence of more comprehensive benefits, the ability to save up AL allows workers to plan for major life events. The library needs to redress the underlying issues that make workers rely so heavily on AL in the first place, not cap AL and add only one extra floating holiday in return.
The March 2021 letter from President Val Colon to Local 1930 members states: “This AL Cap was something that management requested… because of a heavy liability that they are currently carrying... Annual leave is one of the things that the Library must pay out regardless of resignation, termination, retirement or death...”
It is not our responsibility to balance the library’s budget or mitigate their financial liability.
Scenarios
Scenarios A + B: Branch staff unable to schedule AL
[A] Bianca is the newest hire at her branch. Her AL requests are not often granted as they interfere with the AL requests of her manager, who has title seniority6. Since no more than one person at a time can take AL at her branch, Bianca is not able to take the AL she would like. Currently, Bianca can continue accruing AL even when she is not able to use it. But if the AL MOA passes and the AL cap is instituted, AL that Bianca earned but wasn’t even able to schedule in the first place could be moved to sick leave.
[B] Kat works at a branch that used to have 10 workers, but now has 6. Since the branch is chronically understaffed, there is not a lot of flexibility when it comes to taking time off. Due to the needs of the branch, Kat is not able to take the AL they would like to take. Currently, Kat can continue accruing AL even when they are not able to use it. But if the AL MOA passes and the AL cap is instituted, AL that Kat earned but wasn’t even able to schedule in the first place could be moved to sick leave.
Scenario C: Retirement
Patricio is close to retirement and earns 189 hours of AL per year, whereas his coworker Denny has only been working five years at the library and only earns 160 hours of AL per year. Patricio currently has 660 hours of annual leave accrued, whereas Denny, only has 125 (after taking one of two vacations this year). If the AL MOA passes and AL is capped, after the “grandfathered” AL is taken into account, Patricio will automatically have 189 AL hours banked every year. Patricio doesn’t like to take AL, and has been looking forward to cashing out his AL when he retires. The chances of Patricio using the 189 hours he accrues every year until he retires is highly unlikely. Denny, on the other hand, may be able to use most of his AL since he has less banked hours, transferring less hours to sick time. He will be getting more value for his AL than Patricio who will lose 85% of the AL moved to sick time on retirement. (Sick Leave ONLY gets paid out on retirement, currently. You do not get it if you resign or are terminated.)
Scenario D: Parental Leave
Currently, staff wanting to take leave for the birth or adoption of a child can take up to 36 months of unpaid leave from the Library. Some parents will qualify to take 6-8 weeks paid sick leave after the birth of their child. Some parents will also qualify for both short term disability and NY’s Paid Family Leave during their child’s first year (both of which pay a percentage of our salaries, not full salaries). After exhausting these options, you are left with having to take unpaid leave to care for your child. If you have no free childcare options available to you, or can’t afford child care, what do you do? Currently, many staff that want to have children bank their AL to extend their paid leave further and cover their growing family’s financial needs. Taking unlimited AL away without creating a comprehensive, empathetic family leave policy is unacceptable.
References
Trustee, President and CEO Tony Marx salary: $812,374 (retrieved April 4, 2021 from https://nonprofitlight.com/ny/new-york/new-york-public-library-astor-lenox-and-tilden-foundations); Local 1930 President Val Colon salary: $121,462 (retrieved April 4, 2021 from https://www.unionfacts.com/local/employees/512929/AFSCME/1930/)
While current workers would immediately receive an extra floating holiday, new hires would only receive that additional floating holiday after 5 years of active service.
Page 48 of the current NYPL Employee Handbook states “Employees who are retiring will also be paid 15% of their accrued Sick Leave balance as of their last day worked."
If the AL MOA passes, staff that currently have over 189 hours of accumulated AL will have all AL over 189 hours “grandfathered.” The “grandfathered” bank will not expire and will be paid out on resignation/termination/retirement/death. The remaining 189 hours will stay in the regular AL “banked” hours. Please see page 3 of the AL MOA Summary Sheet for examples.
https://lithub.com/its-time-we-talk-about-librarians-and-money/
“Where a problem in staffing exists, initial scheduling of annual leave within the local library unit shall be approved on the basis of seniority within the title in The Library” -- Article IX, Section 1b of current Local 1930 <> NYPL contract.