Union librarians push Camden County Commissioners to intervene for ‘fair pay’ as contract negotiations stall

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Members of the Camden County Library union brought their case to the Board of Commissioners Thursday after negotiations hit a roadblock with the Library Commission.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1454 has been in negotiations since before their contract expired on Dec. 31, 2024.

During the commissioners’ meeting, Sarah Dziunycz, president of Local 1454, told officials that the county library is facing a staffing crisis because of low salaries.

“Before people even apply for these positions which are left vacant for months and in some cases a year or more, they see salaries that are far below what’s fair,” she said.

According to a Camden County Library job posting for Librarian 1, the starting salary is $46,439.

At the Cherry Hill Public Library, a similar position has a starting salary of $53,844, according to a job posting. For the Burlington County Library System, a librarian offers a starting salary of $58,492.

The New Jersey Library Association recommended that salaries for librarians start at $64,022. This week, the association’s executive board raised its recommendation to $65,834 for 2026. The union wants $2,500 added to base salaries and annual pay raises of at least 3% through 2029..

Dziunycz told commissioners that the salaries are not attracting candidates and causing the libraries to cut back services, such as later hours, computer classes and being available as a cooling center when Code Red Heat Advisories are issued.

“How many more branches need to close early on Thursday nights in addition to Bellmawr, Gloucester and South County?” she asked. “How long until they need to close for entire days, weeks, or even permanently? Those diminished hours mean less access for the community.”

Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said he “can’t really comment” on negotiations because the union and the library commission are about to enter mediation next week.

“We don’t want to interfere,” he said. “We do not negotiate in public, and we’re not negotiating.”

Cappelli said the union’s concerns “should be more focused” on the library commissioners.

Dziunycz said they did address the library commissioners at their recent meeting, and they didn’t comment.

“It’s your county counsel that’s at the negotiations table,” she said. “No library commissioner or county commissioner has ever sat at the table with us, and you refuse to give us answers.”

About a dozen union members showed up at the commissioners’ meeting Thursday.

Julie Tozer, who works at the Nilsa I. Cruz-Perez Downtown Branch, recalled being honored by commissioners in 2023 for helping to revive someone from a drug overdose at the library. While appreciative of the honor, Tozer told the board, “The way to truly show appreciation is to compensate us fairly.”

“I think that if you wanted to help with that, I think you can figure out how to help with that,” she said.

Emily Getzinger, head of adult services for the library, told commissioners they were responsible for understaffed libraries and charged them with being “complicit in undermining the strength of our public libraries.”

“Libraries don’t get the resources they need to keep running and keep their services going, including its ability to keep its doors open when you refuse to pay library workers a living wage,” she said.

Representatives from the South Jersey Progressive Democrats, the South Jersey chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and a few residents also spoke in support of the union.

“They do everything and they could do it with a smile on their faces,” said Susan Kerr of Gloucester Township. “I don’t know many people who would wait that long in order to get an updated contract and get paid.”

Courtney Warner of Barrington, citing increasing living costs, said the library and their free resources “have become a real lifeline and one of the last places I can go without having to spend money.”

“As more and more people are using libraries, our library staff remain drastically underpaid for the vital services that they provide,” she said.

The commissioners thanked the union librarians for bringing their concerns to them. Commissioner Deputy Director Edward T. McDonnell told the librarians that he and his colleagues “very much wanted to get a fair contract done.”

“We will be checking in to see where we are on that,” he said. “We will make it very clear that we expect a fair contract for you.”