Press release
On June 21, 2024, librarians, curators, developers, and other staff at the Penn Libraries delivered a letter to the Vice Provost/Director of the Penn Libraries announcing that they are unionizing as Penn Libraries United (PLU). The letter informed the Director that a supermajority of eligible library staff have signed union representation cards. The group intends to join the same union local as their colleagues in the Penn Libraries support staff, who have been unionized since 1969 as AFSCME District Council 47 Local 590.
Structural issues motivating the unionization effort are longstanding. PLU members cite unclear promotion procedures, inequitable raises, lack of transparency in decision-making, and an overreliance on term-limited positions as motivators for employees organizing.
Heather Hughes, a Penn librarian and member of PLU, adds: “Since I’ve started at the Libraries, I’ve seen a lot of colleagues leave. I want the Libraries to be a place where workers feel empowered and people feel like they can stay and grow.”
Yvonne Harris, a longtime member of the Penn Libraries support staff and President of Local 590, welcomes her colleagues: “The intention was always for Local 590 to represent all union-eligible staff at the Libraries. By unionizing and joining us, our library coworkers will finally realize that vision. We could not be more excited.”
In addition to Local 590, AFSCME District Council 47 represents cultural workers at the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Penn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Please Touch Museum, and the Philadelphia Zoo. April Gigetts, President of AFSCME DC47, says of the announcement: “We are proud to stand with these Penn Libraries workers and other cultural workers organizing across Philadelphia.”
PLU is the latest in a wave of new labor organizing at Penn. Since 2021, Penn Museum workers, Resident Assistants, Hospital Residents and Fellows, and Graduate Workers have all unionized, dramatically increasing union density at the University. These new unions have joined together with existing union locals on campus, including AFSCME 590, to form the Coalition of Workers at Penn, in affiliation with the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO. Daniel Bauder, Philly AFL-CIO President, says of the PLU announcement: “The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO and Coalition of Workers at Penn are thrilled to support these library workers and all other Penn workers in joining the labor movement. Fighting to improve wages and working conditions there is important to all of us.”