A worker’s right to join a union is constitutionally protected. In the private sector, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is the law which outlines the process by which workers obtain union representation through the election process. There are similar laws covering all levels of government workers as well as air and rail transport workers.
In the state of Maryland, the library systems were formed by state statute to be part of the county public services. However, library employees are neither county employees nor are the state employees, so there fell into an area for which there was no labor law governing collective bargaining. As a result, if library employees wished to try to form a union, they first had to have the state legislature pass enabling legislation. This county-by-county process began in the 1980’s with Montgomery County, followed by Prince George’s County. In 2013, enabling legislation was passed for Howard County. Staff did not successfully organize under this law until 2023. In 2021, Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL) employees, together with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), were able to pass legislation resulting in the BCPL-IAM union election victory later that year.
During the BCPL efforts, employees from Harford County Public Library (HCPL) inquired about unionizing their library system. In 2022, HCPL staff and the IAM attempted to pass enabling legislation sponsored by Delegate Steve Johnson (D-34A). The Harford County Delegation would not support the bill, so the attempt was unsuccessful. The following legislative session, 2023, Delegate Johnson sponsored the legislation to apply to all unorganized county library systems in Maryland. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support, but failed to clear the Senate before the session closed.
In 2024, library staff from across multiple county library systems joined together with the IAM and other Maryland labor allies to try again. The Library Workers Empowerment Act, championed by Sponsors Delegate Jared Solomon (D-18), Delegate Steve Johnson (D-34A) and Senator Clarence Lam (D-12) passed the full General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore on April 25, 2024. The law becomes effective July 1, 2024 and will apply to all unorganized county public library systems and the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore City.
Below are some commonly asked questions about the Library Workers Empowerment Act during the legislative session:
SUMMARY: Public library workers across Maryland are unable to exercise their Constitutional right to form a union and collectively bargain unless the Maryland General Assembly passes enabling legislation. In the past, this process has been handled on a county-by-county basis, requiring the state legislature to repeatedly contemplate similar legislation. Passing statewide enabling legislation will eliminate this redundancy and allow library workers a clear and consistent process to exercise their Constitutional rights, if they so choose.
WHAT’S THE STATUS OF THIS LEGISLATION? This bipartisan legislation is being sponsored by Delegate Jared Solomon as bill HB 609 and is crossfiled by Senator Lam in the Senate as SB 591.
WHAT DOES THIS LEGISLATION DO? When passed, the Library Workers Empowerment Act (LWEP) will provide a consistent process for employees of unorganized public library systems in Maryland to form a union and to collectively bargain, if they so choose.
WHY ARE SOME PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEMS EXCLUDED FROM THE LEGISLATION? The excluded systems are Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and Baltimore County. The employees of these library systems have already navigated a process to form a union, primarily by having already gone through the legislative process. The purpose of this legislation is to provide a process to other library system employees who may wish to do the same.
DOES THIS BILL FORCE LIBRARY SYSTEMS TO BECOME UNION? No. This legislation seeks to efficiently provide currently unorganized workers the necessary steps to show interest for a vote to have union representation, should they wish to do so.
WILL WORKERS BE REQUIRED TO PAY DUES IF THEIR SYSTEM HAS A SUCCESSFUL UNION ELECTION?
No. County library workers fall within the public-sector labor industry. The 2018 Supreme Court Janus decision determined that public sector employees cannot be compelled to pay union dues as a condition of employment; therefore, only library workers who wish to be a union member will be asked to pay dues.
WHY IS THIS A GOOD AND WORKABLE BILL? The language in this bill follows common election and collective bargaining practices for public sector workers across the state. There has beeen a deliberate attempt to strike a balance between existing county cultures and budgetary processes with library workers wanting to exercise their right to form a union and collectively bargain.
THE GOAL: Since the passing of Baltimore County’s library employee collective bargaining law in 2021, library workers across the state have inquired about undergoing the same process for their library system. Often, workers are disheartened when they learn about the legislative process. Workers know that attempting a union organizing campaign is difficult enough; adding an additional legislative hurdle makes exercising their rights seem impossible. In addition, many feel advocating for a collective bargaining bill will make them vulnerable in the workplace. Labor’s goal is to help these workers, prevent county-by-county redundancies, while respecting individual county library system employees to choose if they want to have a union.