Librarians and staff in the Mid-Continent Public Library system, serving Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri, have announced their intent to form a union. Approximately 60% of the union-eligible staff members have signed a public petition supporting efforts to organize with Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 6360. The workers are organizing to win better wages, more time off, safety protections at work and full staffing across the library system.
“We got into this work because we love our communities, and we see our libraries as a fantastic way to build those communities,” said Shelby Fordham, a youth and early literacy associate at the East Independence branch. “We just want to be able to do that without constantly counting pennies at the end of every month, and without having to worry about whether or not we're going to have electricity and running water at work.”
If they succeed in their union election, the Mid-Continent workers will become the state’s third, and largest, library union. The Daniel Boone Public Library, serving Boone and Callaway counties, became Missouri’s first library to organize in 2022, followed by the University of Missouri library workers in 2025.
AFL-CIO Daily Brief