CHAMPAIGN — After more than 500 days of bargaining, the Urbana Free Library Board and the union representing the library’s workers will meet with a mediator this week.
Contract negotiations have stalled over disagreements about wage increases. The meeting with a neutral mediator, scheduled for Oct. 29, aims to move things forward.
Earlier this month, union members with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 filed a charge to the Illinois Labor Relations Board, alleging the board “failed and refused to bargain in good faith with respect to wages.”
“They’re saying because they don’t set the budget for the next couple of years, they don’t have the authority to bargain with us” on a multi-year contract, said Caleb Wilson, a library employee and union organizer. “We believe that’s an unfair labor practice because they haven’t sent someone to the table who has the authority to bargain with us.”
The Urbana Free Library said in a statement to media outlets that it “categorically denies the allegations,” and says its bargaining team has consistently negotiated in good faith and provided multiple fair offers.
Dan Urban, president of the library’s board, declined an interview for this story, instead citing statements shared at recent board meetings.
Urban said Urbana Free Library Board members have been supportive of library employees’ right to unionize since the process began two years ago.
“We understand it has been a long and laborious process with much needing to be learned on all sides,” Urban said at a board meeting on June 9.
The board is sympathetic to the union’s cause, he said, while also “remaining obligated and beholden to the continued fiscal responsibilities of this library.”
Urban also noted limitations imposed on the board “due to the source of our funding through the city and the year-to-year unknowns that come with this.”
At the board’s meeting on Oct. 13, Urban said it’s not financially feasible for the board to agree with all of the union’s demands: “Negotiations are often a balance between competing interests, and both sides have to make allowances.”
Urban also provided IPM News with a financial overview by the board’s treasurer, Justin Kingston, which states that the library’s annual investment in staff salaries and benefits grew from $2.8 million in FY2024 to $4.3 million in FY2027.
The charge against the library’s board of trustees, filed by attorney Melissa Auerbach, is currently in the investigation stage, according to the ILRB, which declined to comment for this story.
Library worker Caleb Wilson said he worries delays will continue but hopes discussions with the mediator will help both parties move forward.
“We want the library to be an awesome place with great services, and the things we’re asking for let us provide services for the public,” he said. “And we think the board wants those exact same things too.”