The Delaware County District Library Board of Trustees met Friday and voted to authorize a secret ballot election in response to the staff’s request to form a collective bargaining unit.

Two weeks ago, a group of library employees delivered union cards signed by 71.6% of Delaware County District Library employees and announced their intention to unionize. The employees also filed the union cards with the Ohio State Employee Relations Board (SERB) and requested that the DCDL board voluntarily recognize the union.

Last week, the library board moved its regular meeting to Friday afternoon and went into executive session for around an hour to discuss the matter. After returning from executive session, the board did not voluntarily recognize the union and ultimately vote unanimously to authorize a secret ballot election that will be administered by SERB.

At the meeting, DCDL Board of Trustees President Scott Tiede read a prepared statement on behalf of the board members present at the meeting and thanked the attendees for waiting through the executive session.

“We have two options before us — to voluntarily recognize the staff’s request or to go through the formal process of administering a secret ballot through the State Employment Relations Board,” the statement said. “We make this motion for several reasons — to gain a full understanding of the grievances that exist, to ensure that all employees are fully and consistently informed of the proposed unit, to give all members of staff that would be included in the collective bargaining unit the opportunity to make their voices heard during a fair and secret ballot voting process, and to provide the Board an opportunity to explain its responsibilities, as the Board is prohibited by law from delegating its responsibilities.”

On Aug. 16, Library Director Bryan Howard said the administrative team at DCDL will remain neutral in the process and on Friday, the board’s statement echoed that pledge to remain neutral and impartial.

Organizers of the union issued the following statement on Monday:

“Nearly three-quarters of us elected to sign union cards because we need a voice in the decisions that affect our work. While we’re disappointed that our Board chose not to voluntarily recognize our union based on that supermajority, we appreciate that they have committed to neutrality, having seen that we are united in this and have the support from both employees and the community. We’re looking forward to duplicating our supermajority in the election and moving forward to negotiate our first contract so that all parties can come together as equals in building the library’s future.”

According to SERB’s website detailing the election process, mail-ballot kits will be mailed to the eligible voters and ballots must be returned to SERB’s office within a 14-day polling period. Ballots will be counted on an agreed upon date and there will be a 10-day post-election objection period. SERB will issue a directive certifying the election’s results and if the employee organization prevails, SERB will also certify the union.

Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903.