Board approves five-year collective bargaining agreement with ASME Local 183

The Iowa City Public Library Board of Trustees voted to approve a five-year collective bargaining agreement with ASME Local 183 that will run from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2031. City staff said the agreement includes a reopener on wages in years three through five and several changes to leave accruals and discretionary pay.

Board members and staff discussed the packet format and asked for future documents to include a redline or clearer notation of what changed from the previous contract. Staff noted that the carryover limit for vacation time will increase to 200 hours, that personal leave increases from one to two days per year, that new employees will start with both sick and vacation banks, and that longevity pay will be replaced with discretionary-use pay effective after one year of service.

A trustee asked whether these terms were citywide; staff said the contract covers nearly all city employees except police, fire and certain transit workers, and that some terms are negotiated by workgroup type per state rules. After discussion, a trustee moved to approve the agreement, a second was recorded and the motion was approved. The transcript includes one explicit abstention; a full roll-call tally is not recorded in the transcript.

The board’s action authorizes the library to implement the negotiated terms and to return to the council process as needed for city-level ratification steps. No amendments to the agreement were proposed at the meeting. The transcript does not record which trustee moved or seconded the motion by name.