Voters could decide next year whether hundreds of Memphis Public Library employees should be reclassified as civil service workers, a move that comes as the city faces growing tension with several employee unions and ongoing disputes over collective bargaining.
During the Memphis City Council meeting Tuesday, Oct. 21, council member J.B. Smiley told assembled city workers he intends to introduce a charter amendment to leave the question to voters.
“We’re going to let the people decide. We’re going to bring up something at the next council meeting, and we’re going to talk about this issue. Then, we’ll see what happens,” Smiley said.
Smiley’s announcement came during public comments at the end of the meeting. It was prompted by a library employee who put the question to the assembled council.
“I would like to ask from each of you, if you are willing. Can you commit to standing with labor? Can you commit to placing a referendum on the ballot today to change the employment status of library workers … ?” library employee Emilie Rodgers asked.
Library employees have engaged in months of campaigning in pursuit of a memorandum of understanding. Around 70% of the city division’s appointed employees have signed union authorization cards. Breaking a 60% threshold typically improves chances considerably.
Many library employees consider their current classification a misnomer. It lumps low-paid librarians, assistants, clerks and others into the same category as city division leaders, for example. A charter amendment is one of two routes to reclassification. The other is through Mayor Paul Young’s office. Before Tuesday’s meeting, library workers were considering when to deliver their union authorization cards to the mayor.
It likely would have been an unrealistic endeavor.
Young has already told employees that if they were reclassified as civil service, they would all be fired and then rehired. As appointed employees, they currently serve at the discretion of the mayor.
The timing isn’t ideal either. The administration is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with its police and fire unions. The mayor is attempting to invalidate the existing agreements with the bargaining units. The city argues it is not legally required to engage in collective bargaining. Furthermore, Young claims that any agreement signed by a previous mayor is not binding and he shouldn’t have to abide by it.
Putting the item on the November 2026 ballot prevents library workers from pursuing futile paths. The only caveat: Council members informed the pro-union library employees they would still need to be fired and rehired if they join the union.
Grievances within the library system go beyond compensation. Chronically understaffed branches are also typically in a state of disrepair. Many have HVAC issues similar to those experienced by Memphis-Shelby County Schools in recent years. Systems are operable one day, offline the next.
The complaint was validated during the morning Libraries and Neighborhoods Committee meeting. Council members discussed a resolution providing $2 million in funding for deferred maintenance improvements.
A citywide hiring freeze instituted by Young has only exacerbated issues within the library. Combined with high turnover, institutional knowledge is quickly evaporating along with morale. Evidently, they aren’t alone. Numerous city employees wearing pro-union T-shirts echoed many of the complaints later in the afternoon. Their message ran contrary to the administration’s perspective.
During the afternoon Budget Committee meeting, the city’s chief financial officer said he hadn’t noticed a difference in worker optimism.
“Right now, there’s a lot of stresses throughout the city from a variety of issues. Some internal to the city, some external to the city,” CFO Walter Person said. “I would say in general, I haven’t noticed any major downturn in morale. It’s about the same as it’s been.”
Person also informed the committee that the city is still considering hires of critical employees on a case by case basis.
