Ohio Library Union Movement Grows
The coronavirus pandemic served as a wakeup call for workers across industries in the United States, causing many to reevaluate their relationship to their job, as well as the expectations they might have of their employer.
“When you have some time to step away and look at the big picture, you have time to think about ways things could be different,” said Moth Meuser, a librarian at Pickerington Public Library, where workers are forming a union. “And then when you think of the ways things can be different, you start to wonder, why is that something we’re not doing? Why is that something that’s out of reach? … Sometimes it was just easy to feel a little voiceless.”
According to Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT) president Melissa Cropper, the ongoing pandemic has had a pronounced impact on the union movement. Prior to COVID-19, she said she couldn’t recall the last time the group helped organize a new local union chapter. But in the time since the coronavirus surfaced, the group has already advised seven locals who have moved on to vote in favor of a union, with more in the pipeline.
“I think the pandemic had a huge impact to where people started to have a different perspective on what they wanted their lives to look like and what kind of voice they wanted to have in the workplace,” Cropper said. “I think a lot of people either read about unions, or knew people in unions, and heard about what they were doing to help keep people safe and to provide accommodation. … I think these issues were arising where employees wanted to have more of a say in what was happening.”