When workers at Salt Lake City Public Library (SLCPL) announced their unionization efforts with AFSCME Local 1004 in April 2023, they never anticipated that the road to success would be fraught with so many challenges.
Fortunately, they were determined to persevere no matter what.
As the only non-unionized public sector workers in Utah, the group of dedicated library workers spent nearly two years after their campaign went public organizing for their right to collectively bargain.
The process to win collective bargaining rights required two steps: first, the Salt Lake City Public Library had to approve a resolution outlining a union recognition process. Then, the Salt Lake City Council would have to approve their right to unionize, which finally occurred on Feb. 4, 2025.
However, a little over a week later, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed House Bill 267 into law, which aimed to effectively kill public sector collective bargaining across the state.
Even though HB 267 was slated to go into effect on July 1, 2025, SLCPL workers pressed forward. They began preparing for a union election while simultaneously joining citizen-led referendum efforts to put HB 267 on hold pending a statewide vote.
And on May 1, 2025, SLCPL workers made history by winning their union election by a 92% vote. The May Day victory positioned Salt Lake City Public Library Workers United as the first library union in Utah.
Despite the threat of HB 267 still looming at the time, SLCPL workers began negotiating their first union contract in late August. Time was of the essence: they needed to secure a contract so that all economic agreements would make it into the following year’s fiscal budget.
Less than three months later, on Nov. 13, 2025, SLCPL Workers United announced they had reached a tentative agreement in an emotional Instagram post:
“We are finally here. It has taken nearly 4 years of advocating, meeting with coworkers, changing laws, fighting the legislation and learning. We are extremely proud of our work and are committed to democracy where all workers have voice at the table.”
Members of SLCPL Workers United voted to ratify the tentative agreement, and the library board followed suit in December 2025. The Salt Lake City Council gave its final stamp of approval on Feb. 3, 2026.
Now, approximately 350 of the city’s library workers will see significant base pay increases across the board, guaranteed 5.5% raises every year through 2028, a new grievance procedure and telehealth opportunities for part-time workers.
“Winning this contract feels so much bigger than us,” said Christina Ordonez, an associate librarian who has worked at Salt Lake City Public Library for eight years. “With every challenge that came our way, we kept saying, ‘We’re not going to let this stop us. This isn’t over.’ I’m so proud of all the good trouble we’ve gotten into and everything we’ve accomplished, especially in a red state like Utah.”