Plymouth, MN – AFSCME members from Local 2822 and other Hennepin County library and service center workers were out protesting for the second week in a row on Friday, April 24. The protests revolve around Hennepin County’s unsafe decision to keep some libraries open for curbside pickup of books even while businesses all around have been shut down and the state is under a Stay at Home order from Governor Tim Walz.

Driver's license expiration dates and library material due dates have been extended in this time as ways to keep people safe from the COVID-19 pandemic and avoid having to put themselves in public near other people. For several weeks, the AFSCME members have been raising serious concerns over being told to come to work or risk losing income despite not having been provided a safe way to do so. They are asking for an immediate end to curbside services until a time when it is safe and adequate measures have been taken.

Some protesters stayed in their cars and honked in support and others stood outside at safe distances from each other, wearing masks and gloves to stay safe. AFSCME 2822 President Ali Fuhrman gave a speech and led the crowd in a series of chants. Cars could be heard honking along in time with the chants.

In her speech President Fuhrman said, “Workers are being put at risk by being in this building. That’s why we are calling for an immediate closing of curbside services, and giving workers remote work to do.”

Fuhrman continued, “Why is the county focusing on giving a limited number of people curbside services while the people who really need us are in desperate need of internet and technology access? That’s where our resources should be going.”

AFSCME members and other concerned workers will continue to raise these demands and any others needed to keep workers safe as long as the pandemic continues.

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AFSCME Local 2822 President Ali Fuhrman said, “Books are not an essential service. The most important services our libraries can provide safely are the remote, online services that the county is no longer allowing our workers to perform.”

Library workers also demonstrated at six of the eight curbside locations, using chalk to mark slogans such as “Your books aren’t worth our lives,” “Close corona-curbside,” and, “Lives > books.”

On March 31, library specialists were informed that the remote services they were providing was not considered meaningful, and they were forced to choose between paying themselves with their sick and vacation leave balances or going back to providing whatever in person services the county administrator could dream up. One of those in-person services is the curbside hold pickup service being offered at eight Hennepin County libraries.

Hennepin County is also operating a drive-up window for its service center in Maple Grove, again providing more chances for transmission of COVID-19 through fomites. Said a Hennepin County Service Center worker and Local 2822 member, “Before the coronavirus we would regularly get documents stained with bodily fluids. There is no way to remove the risk of contamination when you are exchanging documents with the public.”

AFSCME 2822 Chief Steward Shane Clune stated, “The only way to ensure that our workers and our communities don’t spread this disease to one another is to close down in-person services. Instead of public health and worker safety, the county is caving to political pressure from the privileged.”

AFSCME Local 2822 continues to demand that the county keep buildings closed and expand remote services to the community; that the county ensures no loss in pay or benefits to workers who are unable to work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; and that the county provide hazard pay and adequate protective equipment for all workers who are required to provide services in person.

There will be another action at the Plymouth Library at 12:30, on Friday April 24.

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Minneapolis, MN – AFSCME Local 2822, representing almost 1300 clerical workers working for Hennepin County, is planning an April 17, 12:30 p.m. Car Convergence that will pack the Ridgedale Library parking lot, the site of the Hennepin County Library Administrative Offices, at 12601 Ridgedale Drive in Minnetonka.

The parked-car rally, with signs and social distancing , will call on Hennepin County to end its library curbside pick-up pilot program until the spread of COVID-19 is better understood in Minnesota; end its drive-through window at Maple Grove Licensing service center and delay drop box service at service centers until workers can process motor vehicle and other transactions remotely.

On Monday, April 13, Hennepin County started bringing non-essential workers represented by AFSCME Local 2822 back to provide onsite non-critical services at eight libraries and one licensing service center. Approximately 220 library specialists and 80 service center representatives had not been allowed to work remotely and had not been paid by the county since April 5. The implementation of curbside services is only providing paid work for about 30 workers, or less than 10% of the workers locked out. On April 13, AFSCME Local 2822 filed a class action grievance against the lockout action by Hennepin County. In addition, recalled associate librarians, who had been working remotely since March 19, were not allowed to continue working remotely if they declined onsite work.

Library and service center workers have been raising public health concerns about the implementation of non-essential curbside and drive-up service, especially as the county decided to make recall to these high-risk locations involuntarily, over the protest of Local 2822. The county turned the concept of workplace seniority from a benefit into a punishment. Calling the most long-term employees first, workers were told if they declined to accept recall, they would lose any paid remote work they were doing, paid leave options and potentially lose unemployment benefits. Workers were given three hours or less to accept the recall, with limited information about safety or other options for paid leave. Many workers reported not being informed about the eligibility for federal paid leave for high-risk workers or for parents/caregivers. Workers also shared that they felt coerced to accept the recall to the pilot curbside services.

Liz Knaeble, a library specialist at Webber Park Library in North Minneapolis said, “I have had to choose between going back to work where I am putting my health and perhaps my life at risk – I am 60 years old – and staying home, without knowing if I will have any money coming in. We get the message that our lives are not valued.” Knaeble ultimately decided to take care of her health and declined the recall to curbside service at Webber Park Library. She is waiting to be informed of her eligibility for unemployment benefits.

Public health concerns were raised by AFSCME Local 2822 and frontline library and service centers workers early on in the pandemic crisis. Workers fought to close public-facing buildings like licensing service centers and libraries, and to stop handling library materials at the end of March. As soon as County Administrator David Hough reported on the possibility of library curbside services at a March 19 special county board meeting, Local 2822 representatives demanded safety information.

Public health and worker safety issues continue to grow. There is concern that the basic PPE and sanitizing supplies provided on the first few days of onsite service will soon become unavailable. There are ongoing PPE supply-chain issues and the projected peak of the pandemic in Minnesota still to come. There is also concern that use of these limited supplies, while necessary to provide curbside and drive-through services safely, is taking away from the supplies available to workers in essential and high-risk county facilities.

Library workers have also been raising questions about lack of conclusive research and guidance on coronavirus transmission on library materials. Library materials are high contact, high usage surfaces. And unlike mail or delivery packages, library materials are mostly covered in plastic, including DVDs, CDs and the Mylar that covers hardcover books and most children’s materials. Current county guidelines fail to account for the difference in virus viability on plastic surfaces and paper/cardboard. A study from the National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University scientists in March found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains viable on plastic surfaces for up to three days.

Guidelines for library materials sanitation and safe handling from industry-specific sources range from 24-hours to fourteen days for quarantining materials, and recommendations for sanitizing books and other library materials like DVDs and CDs vary widely. The lack of conclusive research means that an abundance of caution should be used to protect worker and patron safety. In addition, although the library curbside locations are not officially accepting returned materials, because of a lack of knowledge of the risk to workers, library patrons have continued to leave returned materials at curbside locations. Library workers are not equipped or consistently trained to handle those returned materials safely.

Beyond transmission of the virus through library materials, curbside service puts both workers and residents into unnecessary interactions with each other. Library workers have reported issues with maintaining social distancing at some sites. The air handling system of at least one branch was malfunctioning during the first week of curbside service, which increases risk of worker-to-worker virus spread. Workers have also reported that library patrons have been handling bagged holds that weren’t theirs, leading to concerns about the outdoor curbside carts becoming a site of community transmission of the virus.

Some library patrons and community members had been putting pressure on Hennepin County Library to provide curbside library services, and to expand those services to include returns and to add more locations. But library workers are sounding this alarm for public health. “No one cares more about the library collection and access to it than frontline library workers. But circulating materials that only a few patrons can access is not worth the risk to workers and the community,” Lindsey Fenner, a library specialist at Hosmer Library in South Minneapolis and AFSCME Local 2822 executive board member, said in her open forum comments at the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners meeting on April 7.

Library workers are also pushing Hennepin County Library to focus more on providing innovative remote services that support more community members. Jayne Mikulay, a library specialist at East Lake Library and vice president of AFSCME Local 2822, said, “I am supporting my son with distance learning and we continue to see the digital divide with children and families not having access to technology. We are not supporting the communities that need the most support right now by focusing on picking up books. Holds for books are primarily placed by patrons who already have access to technology. I want to support my library community by doing what’s best for safety and what’s best for communities that experience the most disparities.” Locked-out library specialists and recalled associate librarians had been supporting the development of creative remote delivery methods for a wide range of library services.

AFSCME Local 2822 continues to demand for the entire pandemic period: -- Remote work for all non-essential workers; essential workers at risk or caring for those at risk -- In the event no work is available, paid administrative leave/COVID-19 leave OR -- Extended SLWOP [special leave without pay] so workers can access unemployment benefits and maintain full employment status for the entire pandemic period -- Truly voluntary reassignment process: No loss of income or benefits for workers who decline public facing work assignments -- PPE and hazard pay for any workers working onsite and in the field.

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AFCME Local 2822 is demanding Hennepin County immediately stop or delay the move requiring 311 county workers to either agree to be reassigned to high-risk public-facing work or to use their earned leave balances and/or go into debt with the county to pay themselves. They also call on the county to provide safe remote work, or paid administrative leave, for library and service center workers; and to provide hazard pay for workers putting their lives on the line at hotels and other places housing the homeless.

On Tuesday, March 31, 311 Hennepin County workers, including about 220 library support staff and around 80 licensing service center representatives, were notified that they would no longer be allowed to work from home beginning Sunday, April 5.

These workers are being forced to use up personal leave balances, take unpaid leave and apply for unemployment, or consent to go into a negative leave balance, which would be required to be paid back to the county in full if workers are subsequently laid off. Workers received the notice by email with less than four days to respond, although some workers got missed and had fewer than 24 hours to respond. On the morning of April 3, county administration was still unable to answer basic human resources questions around unemployment eligibility, continuation of benefits, or what would happen when the allowable leave balances ran out.

With less than four days-notice, workers also had to decide whether to sign up for limited temporary reassignment spots. According to management, as of April 1, the approximately 50 available positions were high-risk jobs providing face-to-face public service at the hotels serving community members who are experiencing homelessness, including quarantine sites for homeless residents who are symptomatic for coronavirus. The county had made a call for county employees to volunteer for redeployment at these sites on March 23 but has been having difficulty keeping the sites staffed.

All Hennepin County libraries and licensing service centers have been closed to the public since March 17 as a public safety measure to limit community transmission of COVID-19. Library support staff and service center representatives had been working from home by providing direct online resident services, helping plan modified remote services, and completing necessary trainings. However, in an email to union representatives on March 31, Hennepin County Labor Relations Director Kathy Megarry explained that impacted workers had “been identified by their departments as not having meaningful work” to do from home. Neither workers nor supervisors had been told by county administration what would constitute “meaningful work.”

The workers being required to stop working are also some of the lowest-paid in the county. The largest group of impacted workers, library specialists, have a starting hourly rate of $16.82. The library specialist job is also touted by the county as a pathway to bring more diverse workers into the county workforce.

James Nicholson, an administrative assistant at Hosmer Community Library in South Minneapolis and an Executive Board Member of AFSCME Local 2864, which represents librarians, said, “this action of forcing our colleagues to accept potentially harmful public-facing jobs or be saddled with huge negative leave balances shows a disregard for their value as human beings and employees.” Other public-facing workers in the library, like librarians and associate librarians, are still being allowed to work remotely.

Service center and library workers fought hard to get public-facing buildings closed when it became apparent, they could not provide services to residents without putting the public and county workers at unnecessary risk.

Ali Fuhrman, AFSCME Local 2822 president and library specialist at Minneapolis Central Library in downtown Minneapolis said, “Before they closed the buildings, we had instances of over 100 people waiting in small service center lobbies for hours to renew their drivers’ licenses. We had hundreds of people, including many at-risk and homeless individuals coming to our libraries, specifically at our downtown public library, with no disinfecting of public computers. The workers spoke out and successfully closed the buildings. Now we are being punished for our advocacy for the public good and being told the work we continue to do remotely isn’t good enough.”

Local 2822 and Hennepin County workers also continue to speak out against ongoing safety concerns and a lack of proper protective equipment throughout the county, especially as the county has been hinting at plans to restart public services at some non-essential county facilities sooner rather than later.

2822 Co-Chief Steward Shane Clune said, “Workers already lack proper safety equipment. Correctional workers and detained youth at the Juvenile Detention Center and County Home School continue to work at facilities with limited or no supplies of masks, sanitizer or disinfectant wipes. This is unacceptable. How can we encourage our workers to redeploy when the county can’t provide for the staff currently deployed? And why would we divert equipment needed to save lives in hospitals to re-open non-essential buildings?”

AFSCME Local 2822 and the five other AFSCME locals of Hennepin County, totaling nearly 5000 Hennepin County workers, continue to demand:

-- Full paid pandemic leave for the entirety of the COVID 19 Pandemic period for: those who are ill, at high risk, living with or caring for others who are high-risk, parents and caregivers with children out of school/and or daycare, and those displaced from work due to building closures;

-- 2X hazard pay for all workers who are essential and cannot work from home;

-- Effective PPE for all workers engaging face-to-face with the public;

-- Keep non-essential buildings closed until it is clear they can be made safe for our communities and workers.

#MinneapolisMN #Healthcare #PeoplesStruggles #PublicSectorUnions #AFSCME #COVID19 #AFSCMELocal2822 #HennepinCountyPublicWorkers