Here’s the second part of my two-part Brief Update for the Low-Morale Experiences at Unionized Library Workplaces Data Collection Project. You can access part one of this report here.
This update shares the latest summary of 89 respondents’ qualitative data.
(48% of respondents did not report instances of abuse or neglect to their union rep). If you did not report the abuse, share why you did not report:
- “Since the faculty library unit is small, senior librarians who’ve been heavily involved in union leadership “steer the ship” in both union and dept politics so to speak, and seek to sustain control and power over others through their roles within union and dept…I fear: continued emotional/verbal abuse; retaliation; betrayal of confidentiality; gaslighting; further mobbing, sabotaging and group pressures to conform to white supremacist agendas. I fear further loss of professional autonomy, and decline in my mental health and wellness. For these reasons, I hesitate to confide in the current library union rep. I also hesitate to consult with union grievance officers due to mistrust.”
- “We brought in our union rep to mediate, but to no avail. Ultimately we brought concerns to faculty governance as a vote of no confidence in our dean instead.”
- “My branches union rep works closely with the administrator/perpetrator. In a separate case, the union higher-ups were responsible for decisions that contributed to my low morale.”
- “I am not part of the union as I am management. I have talked about with my supervisor.”
- “I largely have given up any idea of reporting neglect since the opinions of our staff are so varied and disjointed. Within our union, we have so many different opinions and, some of the neglect comes from other union members, so it just didn’t seem worth it to use my mental energy on something that felt futile.”
What was your union’s response to your report of abuse/neglect at work?
- “They suggested I contact HR even though HR has a history of unsatisfactory responses that end up being more harmful. Also, I was approached by my manager shortly after referencing things I told my union rep.”
- “Make me whole. I was offered a transfer.”
- “As this has been going on for years, I’ve had two very different union experiences. The first union president I tried to work with was very pro-management and did not advocate effectively on my behalf after I was passed over for promotions and transfers that were/are contrary the union contract. The newly elected union president has been much more supportive of me and is holding administration to their contractual obligations.”
- “That while there were repeated actions of unwanted physical contact and verbal mistreatment, it did not rise to a level that any action on their part would be successful. Basically they would do and say nothing. They encouraged me to find a job in a different unit.”
- “They have consistently taken action to fight against neglect and system abuse by library leadership and supervisors, and fight for further protections against abusive patrons.”
- “Sort of a, “yeah, it’s a problem.” …. Without presenting any help.”
How does/did the resultant action impact your work, practice, or career?
- “Further lowered morale thinking about having to do the work of justifying our ‘no confidence’ to external reviewers and just having to wait for our dean to retire in the event that no substantial change comes out of the external consultant. This has led me to seriously consider leaving the profession to purse a subject PhD instead (I am actively applying to programs). Also I am actively seeking out other jobs, even those that are not union represented or non-tenure track faculty lines.”
- “It made me question the extent to which I would be willing to suffer for my career just to call myself a librarian working in my field. Strongly considering leaving the field as much as that deeply saddens me.”
- “I’ve checked out more. I guess I ‘quiet quit?’ I don’t work as hard as previously. But I was WAAAAAY overworking so maybe this is a good thing.”
- “My direct supervisor at the time (part of library admin) stopped speaking to me. I never received anything other than a standard merit increase for reviews despite receiving national recognition for my work. I was not given opportunities for career advancement at the institution.”
- “While things are bad in my library system currently because of poor leadership, I know they would be much worse without the protection of a union.”
- “I’m looking for other jobs, which kills me. All other jobs in the region don’t pay as well, don’t have unions, and serve overwhelmingly white towns. I will miss the diversity!!”
- “My mental health suffers due to ongoing exposure to workplace abuse and relfect. This is spilling over into my personal life, I find it increasingly challenging to leave work at work (mentally, at least).”
- “I support unions. I wish my staff had the energy to leave this union and join a stronger one, or create their own bargaining unit.”
How does/did the resultant action impact your relationship with or perception of the union?
- “Union did all they could but if management isn’t willing to change the culture of fear/union retaliation, it’s always an uphill battle. Only so many complaints you can file before you start to feel like it’s a losing game, even if you have a contract and complaint mechanisms.”
- “I have a negative perception of my union. They protect the jobs of the worst, most abusive and toxic employees.”
- “I left. And I’m a staunch supporter of the need for unions in general.”
- “Prior to the situation the union felt semi pointless now it seems like a waste of my money. Our town management just says no to most of the union’s requests. It seems like a toothless organization that takes our union dues.”
- “Improved my perception and made me become a steward to help others.”
- “It made me feel like the union was great for providing support for certain things (not relevant to my needs), but that it is more of a symbolic presence when other situations are occurring. Supervisors, for the most part, still maintain their power.”
- “I don’t like unions and civil service jobs. They prevent good people from being promoted/increased pay and they don’t reprimand/fire bad/useless workers.”
- “I understand them better.”
If no action was taken, how does/did the lack of action impact your work, practice, or career?
- “I am currently considering possibly changing jobs/career because of chronic toxicity within academic libraries. I experience frequent low grade anxiety, distrust, and hypervigilance when interacting /communicating with most coworkers. It is exhausting having to craft time consuming emails or on the spot f2f /zoom meeting responses with extreme caution in anticipation of inadvertently setting off certain individuals or being humiliated/unfairly reprimanded- then having to process and recover from those types of accusations and antagonistic, hostile reactions.”
- Not seeing paths forward for me in the organization, even though I have an abundance of professional experience and desirable skills. I’m the only one suffering the consequences of the complaints. No one else has to live with the complaint like the complainer does, so it feels like I’m carrying my own problem most of the time with little to no help.”
- “The lack of action and support let me know I cannot count on my union.“
- “No impact. It’s still terrible to work there, but now I know for sure that I need to leave. But I can’t just quit, and I am required by my contact to give minimum 90 day notice when I quit. And I have to decide how to move my family because I moved here for this job and there aren’t a lot of other universities or libraries nearby. So, yeah, this definitely impacts my career and I’m seriously considering whether I even want to be a librarian anymore because my previous workplaces weren’t great either.”
- “Loss of connection to the field at large and colleagues in particular. Withdrawn socially at work.“
- “When the old union president did not actively advocate on my behalf for being passed over for promotion/transfer multiple times, I was very upset – for years! I stopped doing anything but the easiest of programs, I “checked out” in my cube frequently by surfing the net, and I stopped offering my assistance on programs and other community engagement opportunities. After four months in my new position, I’m still having a very hard time bouncing back from that.”
- “[Not applicable] because I’ve been there too long to go anywhere else now. (Seniority, benefits etc.).”
- “I am an administrator with limited real power. I do what I can to make work ok for my staff.“
Please share any other thoughts or concerns you have about dealing with a low-morale experience in a library or organization with a union.
- “We have a tenure track librarian in the union as well and it appears that she is trying to help, but I can’t be sure. So, what I thought would be a way to make a work place better is, in fact, in some ways worse than a non-union environment because it destroyed any hope I had that somewhere, someplace, librarians would be treated with a little respect and protected from abuse in the workplace by administrators.”
- “Lack of accountability to our students. Stressful and unpleasant work environment can impact attendance due to health issues steamed from working with dreadful Supervisor. I have to use more “sick leave” to take care of myself and get away from a job I used to like it so much because the Supervisor does not treat employees fairly and they have bad leadership skills.”
- “Retaliation of reporting abuse is a real thing. Administration knows they can get in trouble for certain actions and if they fear a union case or arbitration, they will start trying to sneak things into your employee record to weaken your case and much of that is false or fabricated. It surprises me how much work goes into covering their tracks, rather than just doing the right thing from the start.”
- “In most ways the union makes me feel safer in terms of job security and benefits, but when I came to them with a problem with my supervisor, it did not help.”
- “The worst thing that happened during the worst of the abuse by my supervisor was that the supervisor was also a union rep. That had a chilling effect on me pursuing recourse through the union as the reps at that time were all close friends. Indeed, ALL the union reps at my library are still in supervisory roles. That’s a big problem for rank-and-file who may feel uncomfortable approaching a bunch of supervisors will a complaint about a supervisor.”
- “Honestly, if it wasn’t for the union supporting workers, the work we do, and our situations I probably would have left the library system a long time ago.“
- “”Paraprofessionals” with MLIS degree are treated very differently than “faculty” librarians; they are even members of different unions. Paraprofessionals belong to Teamsters which is barely effective, while the “faculty” are members of another, more powerful union.”
- “…I hope that sharing my own experiences and accounts may provide solace for others, especially BIPOC academic librarians who are tokenized and in unions. I hope they know they’re not alone-and remember to trust their intuition, seek appropriate support from trusted individuals (both inside and outside of dept or institution), and prioritize self care when dealing with a toxic, hostile and unsupportive work culture.”
This survey remains open, so please participate. I will share more updates periodically.
