There was a misprint on the ballots to elect officers to the Executive Board that were mailed to members on October 27, 2020.  The error has been corrected.  New ballots have been prepared and will soon be in the mail to the membership.

The misprint erroneously ran a second name alongside Ronaldo Barber's name in the list of candidates for President.  Please discard these ballots if you still have them.  The replacement ballots are the ones that must be used to elect contested offices on the Executive Board.

Mail in the replacement ballot even if you already mailed in the original ballot.  The original ballots are void and will not be counted.

If you do not receive your ballot by Saturday November 7, phone the American Arbitration Association at 212-484-4136.  If you have any questions about the Local 1482 election, please address them to the Election Committee.  Their email address is Local1482election@gmail.com.  

The new ballots must be received in the mail at the American Arbitration Association by 9:00 am on Monday, November 23.  Please take care to follow the instructions in your election packet and make sure you are preparing your ballots correctly. 

The following letter from the Election Committee will be enclosed in the new ballots:

Dear DC 37 Local 1482 Member:
 
This letter is to inform you that the ballot mailed to members on Tuesday, October 27, 2020, contained an error for the office of President. Enclosed in this ballot packet is a replacement ballot reflecting the new ballot reception deadline of Monday, November 23, 2020, at 9:00 AM.
 
Please note that the original ballot will be rendered VOID. Please use the enclosed replacement ballot to cast your vote in this election.
 
We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused.
 
Thank you
 
DC 37 Local 1482 Election Committee

The final list of nominations for officers to the Executive Board of Local 1482 and Delegates to DC 37 is posted below.  There were no challenges reported to the nominations posted here on October 16.  Further, the Elections Committee has reached out to all nominees to verify whether they accepted or declined their nominations.  

In the near future, all Local 1482 members will receive ballots in the mail from the American Arbitration Association to vote for the following officers:

• President
• Librarian Vice President
• Blue Collar Vice President
• Clerical Representative (4 positions)

The remaining officers and delegates on the list were nominated without opposition and will be automatically installed.

We will post on the Local website information about the ballot and voting process once we receive information from the American Arbitration Association about their timeline for mailing and receiving ballots.

All questions about the election should be directed to the Election Committee rather than current members of the Executive Board.  The Election Committee can be reached by email at  Local1482election@gmail.com.  

The terms of nominations and elections, and the makeup of Executive Board offices, are laid out in the Constitution of Local 1482.  

Nominations for Officers of Local 1482 Executive Board and DC37 Delegates (to serve December 2020-December 2023)

 President (on ballot)

• Ronaldo Barber
• Dawn Marie Cassari

Librarian Vice President (on ballot)

• Jose Arellano
• Vivian Parham
• Catherine Skrzypek

Clerical Vice President (unopposed)

• Ann Joseph

Blue Collar Vice President (on ballot)

• Pedro Perez
• Igor Shapiro

Treasurer (unopposed)

• Paul Otto

Recording Secretary (unopposed)

• Juanita James

Corresponding Secretary (unopposed)

• Karen Simon

Librarian Representative (unopposed)

• Rakisha Kearns-White
• Janelle Welch
• Djaz Zulida

Clerical Representative (on ballot)

• Luz Acevedo 
• Dornel Blair-Henderson
• Kay Jordan
• Lisa Pryce-Brown
• Joanna Salvatore

Special Officer Representative (unopposed)

• Anita Fritz

Custodian Representative (unopposed)

• Lamar Wright

Maintainer Representative (unopposed)

• Henry Gonzalez

Miscellaneous Representative (unopposed)

• David Jules

Delegates to DC37 (unopposed)

• Ronaldo Barber
• Abigail Garnett
• Ann Joseph
• Alexa Orr
• Janelle Welch

As outlined in a letter mailed to the membership of Local 1482, and posted here on the website, we are listing all nominations submitted to serve in the upcoming three-year term as Local 1482 officers and delegates to DC37.  

Any member who wishes to challenge the eligibility of a candidate to run for office must do so by submitting a challenge to the Election Committee no later than 12:00 pm on October 20, 2020.

The email address for the Election Committee is Local1482election@gmail.com.  The Election Committee will post its determination regarding all submitted eligibility challenges here on the Local 1482 website.

In addition to submitting challenges of nominations, all questions regarding the election should be directed to the Election Committee.

Information about the final list of nominees and the mailing and submission of ballots will be shared on the website on a date after October 20th.

Nominations for Local 1482 Officers and Delegates to DC37

President

• Ronaldo Barber
• Dawn Marie Cassari

Librarian Vice President

• Jose Arellano
• Vivian Parham
• Catherine Skrzypek

Clerical Vice President

• Ann Joseph

Blue Collar Vice President

• Pedro Perez
• Igor Shapiro

Treasurer

• Paul Otto

Recording Secretary 

• Juanita James

Corresponding Secretary

• Karen Simon

Librarian Representative

• Rakisha Kearns-White
• Benita McCray (nomination declined)*
• Vivian Parham
• Janelle Welch
• Djaz Zulida 

Clerical Representative

• Luz Acevedo 
• Dornel Blair-Henderson
• Kay Jordan
• Lisa Pryce-Brown
• Joanna Salvatore

Special Officer Representative

• Anita Fritz

Custodian Representative

• Lamar Wright

Maintainer Representative

• Henry Gonzalez

Miscellaneous Representative

• David Jules

Delegates to DC37

• Ronaldo Barber
• Jess Gafkowitz
• Abigail Garnett
• Ann Joseph
• Randi Mason (nomination declined)*
• Benita McCray (nomination declined)*
• Alexa Orr
• Janelle Welch

Edited to Add 10/19/2020.  This post has been edited to accurately record the preferred names of nominees on this list.  

* Edited to Add 10/19/2020.  This post has been edited to reflect nominees who have declined their nominations (as indicated above in the Librarian Representative and DC 37 Representative positions).

It was reported at last night's General Membership Meeting that the library has provided some work locations, but not all, with face shields. 

Therefore, we are asking the Local 1482 membership to provide us insight on which branches and work locations have received face shields, and which have not.  Please fill out our poll and let us know whether or not you have them.  You can also share any feedback you have about the quality of face shields the library has distributed.

Thank you for taking the time to help us gather this information.

Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the executive board of AFSCME, our International Union and parent organization of DC37 and Local 1482, has temporarily waived the usual conduct of nominations for officers to the executive board.  As a result, the nominations for the new three-year term of Local 1482 officers will take place virtually this year instead of at an in-person meeting.

The above letter was mailed to the home addresses of all Local 1482 members, but it is being posted here as well in the expectation that mail delivery did not reach everyone who should have received it.  You can download the letter above at the top of this post

All dues paying members of Local 1482 may nominate candidates for office by submitting nominations to the email address listed at the top of the letter.  The deadline for submitting nominations is Tuesday, October 13 at 5:00 pm.

The responsibilities for many of the Local 1482 offices up for nomination are outlined in the Local 1482 Constitution.  You can also find the nominations and election process laid out in the Constitution of the local.

We will providing more information at the General Membership Meeting on Monday at 7:00 pm.  The meeting will be held over Zoom.  Please register for the meeting by filling out this form.  We will email you the login information on Sunday night.  We will also email the login information at 6 pm on Monday to those who register later on Sunday and on Monday.

The first General Membership meeting of Local 1482 is scheduled on Monday, October 5 at 7:00 pm.  The meeting will be held on Zoom.

We invite members to fill out this reservation form.  We will email the Zoom link and login information to you on Sunday night, or on Monday at 6 pm if you submit the form later on Sunday or on Monday before 6 pm.  

Providing there is a quorum, this will be an official General Membership Meeting where business is conducted.  There will be information on submitting nominations for the election of Officers and Delegates to Local 1482 for a three-year term that will begin in December, 2020.

Please share the reservation form with colleagues who are Local 1482 members.  You can find the full meeting schedule for 2020-2021 here.  

Official Local 1482 General Membership meetings will resume on Monday, October 5 at 7:00.  We have moved the meetings from their traditional Tuesday spot to accommodate BPL's current scheduling, where members in staffed branches work until 7:00 pm on Tuesday nights.

All meetings will be held on Zoom for the foreseeable future.

For General Membership meetings, we will send a reservation link days before an upcoming meeting where members can sign up to participate with their names and email addresses.  We will email the login information prior to the meeting to all who register.

Executive Board members will be sent login information for monthly meetings by President Ron Barber.  

You can find a printable PDF of the meeting schedule by clicking on the image above, or by visiting this page.  Please print out a copy, post it on the union bulletin boards in your work locations, and share with your colleagues.  

Local 1482 will hold a General Membership Meeting on Monday, August 31 at 7:00 pm.  This meeting will be informational, and no official business will be conducted.  

The meeting will take place on Zoom, and we are asking members to register in advance.  Submit this form ​with your name and email address and we will email you the login information on Sunday night, or at 6 pm on Monday night if you send the form on Monday.

Thank you to all of our members for your engagement, participation, and resilience in these unexpected circumstances.  We look forward to connecting on August 31.  

To Our Members--

As the libraries in NYC implement their reopening plans, our members in Local 1482 now have to confront the realities of returning to their physical workspaces, and questioning whether our work environments are truly safe.  The Executive Board of Local 1482 acknowledges the concerns our members have expressed during this transition, and we reassure you that your safety and security are our top concern.  You have a right to a workplace that protects your health, the library is obligated to provide it, and the union will protect you and hold the library accountable if your workspaces are not safe.

First and foremost, we expect the library’s decisions will adhere to public health guidance, and guidelines for negotiating public spaces and workplaces, as issued by the CDC, and New York State, and the NYC Department of Health, as well as the Working Conditions Contract between the library and Local 1482.  

Taking these documents into account, and holding the health and safety of our members paramount, we make the following demands regarding the reopening of our workplaces to staff and the public:

• That PPE and cleaning supplies are plentiful, and are restocked regularly. 

 

• That clear, comprehensive signage is put in place that communicates mask requirements, and promotes social distancing.

 

• That cleanliness and wiping down of frequently used surfaces in both public and staff areas is a top priority.

 

• That branches and work locations are not rushed too quickly from one step to another in the reopening plan, and that the library provides our members with adequate time between steps for review, reflection, and training.

 

• That processes and physical spaces are configured well in advance and in a way that drastically minimizes, if not eliminates, unsafe confrontations with library users.

 

• That the library responds concretely to members’ concerns about enforcement of public masking.  Work locations should be provided with masks in different sizes for different ages. Further, mask compliance, or lack of it, should play a role in deciding processes and determining timelines for work locations in contemplating moving them from one step to another.

• That the library will recognize and respond to the unique needs and challenges of members who are parents and caregivers in these difficult and uncertain circumstances.

• That staff working from home are provided the technology and training needed to meet the expectations of the library, and the initiatives they promote.

And finally...

• We demand the union be involved in decision-making as work locations move through steps in the reopening plan from this point onward.

Since lockdown began in March, our interactions with the library have largely involved their reaching out to the union after-the-fact about decisions already reached.  In recent days, the union has been able to engage in a dialogue with the library. And as a result, the union has achieved agreement on the following:

• That work locations will be provided with a cleaning checklist, to be delivered the week of July 13.
• That members who have  previously been instructed to clock in on Sum Total will not have to do so.

More work locations will open in different phases in the coming days and weeks.  The demands above are not comprehensive or locked in place,  We recognize they can change and added to based on the evolving public health environment and issues that arise in our members’ work locations in the coming weeks.  

To that end, we invite our membership to report conditions and areas of concern about their work lives, especially now that reopening has moved beyond paper and documents and Zoom meetings, and into our members’ lives and everyday movements.  We have created a form, located here, where you can share information with what’s going on and what you observe.  The content submitted will be accessible to everyone serving on the Executive Board of Local 1482, which we feel will expedite responses, provide perspectives across a variety of titles and levels of experience, and will allow us to track trends and patterns.  

If you are not able to fill out the form, please reach out to any member currently serving on the Executive Board.

We thank you in advance for your submissions and feedback.  Please be well.

DC37 has launched a Covid-19 website that serves as a clearinghouse of information and support for its members and retirees.  It includes:

• A FAQ that defines which titles are considered essential services, and provides up-to-date information on pay.
  
• Worksite Updates issued by a number of City departments and agencies.
  
•  Covid-19 Resources from the City, State, and CDC.   
  
• Contact Information for DC 37.
  
• Information about Government Benefits available to workers from New York State and the Federal Government. 
  

The DC37 offices at 55 Water St. are currently closed, but staff are operating remotely.  Call the Professional Division at 212-815-1040 to inquire about matters related to Local 1482.

To all members, please be safe and please be well.