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Library workers urge council to send civil-service and collective-bargaining question to voters; cite censorship concerns
Summary
During public comment at the Oct. 21 meeting, library workers and supporters asked the Memphis City Council to place a measure on the 2026 ballot to reclassify library employees as civil-service workers and to clear legal obstacles to collective bargaining; speakers also raised concerns about censorship of library displays and programming.
Several library employees and union supporters used the council's public-comment period on Oct. 21 to ask the Memphis City Council to place a question on the 2026 ballot to reclassify library workers as civil-service employees and to protect their right to collectively bargain.
Alexandra Farmer, a library worker speaking to the council, said council members had discussed salary reviews and task forces but that those responses felt like a "distraction and a sidestep" from the immediate request to guarantee library workers the same civil-service status and collective-bargaining rights as other city employees. Farmer said: "All we are asking…
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