Greetings to all of our Guild members and bargaining unit employees from the Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME 2910. We sincerely hope that you are doing as well as possible amid the new circumstances thrust upon us all by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Right now, most of us are adjusting to telework as part of being socially distanced in the stay at home environment. While this has required all of us to change our routines, which can inevitably put extra demands on our time, some of us have also shed considerable commutes in exchange. For many of us, this spring has been the first opportunity of our careers to prove to management, successfully, that we can perform our collectively varied but individually specific jobs during telework. The successes of episodic telework while social distancing during a pandemic should have enormous and ongoing impact on how and where we perform our jobs in the future.
The Guild has been our union and our collective voice at the Library for 44 years. We have never in our history faced a situation calling for so many creative solutions to changing circumstances. As all of us begin to contemplate a phased return to on-site work, we want you to know that the Guild continues to operate in the same way it always has: We stand in solidarity with you to protect your working conditions and your rights. We have continued to advocate for your interests, and to make sure that management has heard the Guild’s and your perspective on a changing work environment.
From the earliest days of the pandemic, the Guild was in direct contact with impacted employees—especially those who had reached out to us with concerns about their underlying risk factors—and soon set up a virtual operation, ready to meet the needs of Library bargaining unit employees from beyond the Library’s campus. We wisely copied all our files to secure external sources so that they could be portable, and so that we could guarantee continuity of our presence and our advocacy even if our physical office was closed. When operations in the Madison Building were curtailed in March, our Chief Steward provided all bargaining unit employees with his personal cell phone number so that he could assist anyone that needed it. Working safely from home, we have met with management continually during the last two months, and even filed our first “e-grievance” regarding concerns we have about changes to criteria in performance evaluations this year. Our Executive Board and Stewards have stayed connected since that first uncertain week in March and now meet (securely) via Zoom to conduct union business.
We have also been a part of important conversations happening beyond the Library, not only at the Council level of our national union, AFSCME, but through our participation in the Metropolitan Washington AFL-CIO, which provides a direct line into the situations faced by our union brothers and sisters working throughout the DC area during this unprecedented period—many of them employed as nurses, emergency medical technicians, school teachers, sanitation workers, WMATA personnel, and other essential public service workers on the front lines of this pandemic. We do this in order to stay apprised of the latest developments in our region and in collective bargaining during exceptional circumstances, as well as to learn from our union colleagues and to fulfill our representational duties to you, our members.
We want you to know that, as always, and despite physical distance, you can reach our stewards and officers on any issue of concern or interest: we do and will continue to represent you both singly and collectively. Below you will see a list of our stewards and steward directors along with their email address; we encourage you to reach out to them or to us in the Guild office with any concerns you may have as an employee of the Library of Congress.
This is a time of tremendous change. Whatever challenges arise, the Guild will not waiver in its commitment to a modern and progressive work environment. From our Mission Statement:
The Guild has always been an advocate for change at the Library of Congress, insisting that employees be treated with fairness, equity and respect, and the quality of their lives be continuously improved.
There simply has never been a time that our union has been more needed by the Library’s professional employees. We want you to know that we are always ready to assist to ensure a safe, fair and equitable workplace for everyone. We each have a role to play in the future of our institution; join us in making it—and our world—a better place.
Stay safe and be strong!
In solidarity,
Anne Toohey
President
guild@loc.gov
David Fernández-Barrial
Chief Steward
dafe@loc.gov
LC Professional Guild, AFSCME Local 2910
Stewards and Steward Directors
CO-ISS-OCIO-LAW-LIBN
Adam Friedman (Director) adfr@copyright.gov
LaTanya Hawkins lbrow@loc.gov
Patrick Ouellette poue@loc.gov
Sayuri Umeda sumeda@loc.gov
Kapil Kumar kkumar@loc.gov
Library Services I (ABA/PRESERV/NAVCC)
Taru Spiegel (Director) tspi@loc.gov
Foster Reding jred@loc.gov
Jed Kusterer jkus@loc.gov
Manoj Gupta mgup@loc.gov
Patrick Kennedy pken@loc.gov
Library Services II (LCSG)
Mark Hall (Director) mhal@loc.gov
Ryan Moore rymo@loc.gov
Melinda Friend mfri@loc.gov
Catherine O’Connor coco@loc.gov
