Nearly 600 workers at Denver Public Library will be represented by a collective bargaining unit after employees voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming Denver’s first union under newly afforded labor rights.
The victory has been years in the making. Library workers have been organizing since 2020, even before they were legally allowed to engage in collective bargaining — which is arguably the most important power for a union.
The unit, which formed under Communications Workers of America Local 7799, filed paperwork to be formally recognized just days after the city’s new union rights took effect.
Over 375 workers, more than two-thirds of the bargaining unit, signed union authorization cards at the beginning of the year. The union said members were forced to conduct an election through an arbitrated process because library leaders chose not to voluntarily recognize its formation.
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