--- title: Library Workers fighting for a first contract and funding in Missouri description: The America’s Work Force Union Podcast is the nation’s premier daily labor program. Jane Billinger from AFSCME joined us on today’s show. image: https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/afscme_blue%20(1).jpg --- 1 min read Season 4, Episode 75 # Library Workers fighting for a first contract and funding in Missouri [ awfblog ](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog) April 14, 2023 [Event History](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/event-history) [Labor Issues](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/labor-issues) [Event](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/event) [America's Work Force Union Podcast](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/americas-work-force-union-podcast) [Jobs](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/jobs) [Labor-Management](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/labor-management) [Government Affairs and Policy](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/government-affairs-and-policy) [Community Involvement](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/community-involvement) [Economic Impact](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/economic-impact) [AFSCME](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/afscme) [Union Responsibilities](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/union-responsibilities) [Union Issues](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/union-issues) ![afscme gray](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/afscme%20gray.jpg?width=407&height=407&name=afscme%20gray.jpg)   Guest Name: --- Jane Billinger Guest Website: --- [https://afscme.org/](https://afscme.org/)  Guest Social Media: --- [ Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/AFSCME) [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/AFSCME) [ YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/afscme) [ LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-federation-of-state-county-and-municipal-employees) Supportive Documents: --- Jane Billinger, Senior Advisor for the [American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)](https://www.afscme.org/), joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the work of library workers.  She discussed the fight for a first contract in Missouri. The Daniel Boone Regional Library Workers United, is fighting for a first contract as Billinger assists in negotiations. It has been six months since negotiations started and over two years since the organizing process began. Billinger said, it never ceases to amaze her how the negotiation team can continue to come back to the table repeatedly despite facing an opposing side that doesn’t want to negotiate in good faith. Adding to the negotiating issues, Billinger and the Daniel Boone Regional Library Workers United are also fighting against a state budget plan to defund most libraries. There are a few larger libraries that could survive the defunding, but Billinger believes many rural libraries would need help to continue operations.  Library workers, unlike librarians, come from a variety of educational backgrounds. Archiving, ordering, preparing books for filling the shelves, and more are a few tasks a library worker will have daily. In honor of their hard work, National Library Workers Day is celebrated on April 26th. Many library staffs across the country are planning events for residents to attend, and during these events, library workers will be able to show the public much of what they do. Listen to the entire episode to learn more. [![EYEMED000323_Savethe70sbanner_615x244](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/EYEMED000323_Savethe70sbanner_615x244.png?width=615&height=244&name=EYEMED000323_Savethe70sbanner_615x244.png)](https://www.eyemedunion.com/?utm_content=2023_save_the_70s&utm_source=americas_work_force_union_podcast&utm_medium=onlinedisplay_sitedirect_banner&utm_term=eyemed000323_savethe70sbanner_615x244)   --- America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues. America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers. - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ##### SUBSCRIBE ON: --- [![Group 342](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png?width=171&name=Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946) [![Group 341](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Spotify%20Button-Dark.png?width=100&name=Spotify%20Button-Dark.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn) [![Group 343](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20343.png?width=135&name=Group%20343.png)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast-62567752/) [![Group 339](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20339.png?width=110&name=Group%20339.png)](https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20397.png?width=125&name=Group%20397.png)](https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/YouTube_button.png?width=125&name=YouTube_button.png)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQo1PAtRAel1_tS7-PQOkA)   #### [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) : July 6, 2026 # Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat Brandon Elvey, Secretary-Treasurer of the [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen](https://www.brs.org/),... [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) #### [AFL-CIO's Fred Redmond on the Convention, AI and America at 250](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/afl-cios-fred-redmond-on-the-convention-ai-and-america-at-250) : July 3, 2026 # AFL-CIO's Fred Redmond on the Convention, AI and America at 250 Fred Redmond, Secretary-Treasurer of the [AFL-CIO](https://awf.labortools.com/), joined the [America's Work Force...](https://awf.labortools.com/) [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/afl-cios-fred-redmond-on-the-convention-ai-and-america-at-250) #### [C/COBCTC's Dorsey Hager on Drones, Data Centers and Growth](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/c/cobctcs-dorsey-hager-on-drones-data-centers-and-growth) : July 2, 2026 # Dorsey Hager on Drones, Data Centers and Central Ohio's Building Boom Dorsey Hager, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the [Columbus/Central Ohio...](https://columbusconstruction.org/) [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/c/cobctcs-dorsey-hager-on-drones-data-centers-and-growth) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "awfblog", "url" : "https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog" }, "dateModified" : "2023-04-14T21:20:36.759Z", "datePublished" : "2023-04-14T21:20:36.000Z", "headline" : "Library Workers fighting for a first contract and funding in Missouri", "image" : [ "https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/afscme_blue%20(1).jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://awf.labortools.com/listen/library-workers-fighting-for-a-first-contract-and-funding-in-missouri", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/labor-tools-logo-white.png" }, "name" : "BMA Media" } } ```