Cleveland Public Library, SEIU workers avoid strike, for now

MetroWorkers represented by SEIU and the Cleveland Public Library avoided a strike today, reaching a tentative agreement with less than an hour to go before a noon strike deadline.Kaitlin Durbin, Cleveland.comBy Mary Frances McGowan, cleveland.comCLEVELAND, Ohio – Workers represented by SEIU and the Cleveland Public Library avoided a strike today, reaching a tentative agreement with less than an hour to go before a noon strike deadline.Terms of the tentative agreement were not immediately available. Workers will vote on the agreement on Wednesday, SEIU District 1199 said. Nearly 400 Cleveland Public Library workers were prepared to strike after voting to reject the library’s final contract offer on Friday.MORE BY MARY FRANCES MCGOWANThe agreement was reached after 11 months of bargaining and more than 40 negotiation sessions between SEIU District 1199 members and the library. The union delivered a strike notice to Cleveland Public Library late in July declaring their intentions to strike on Monday, Aug. 24, if the parties did not come to an agreement by noon.This story will be updated.Mary Frances McGowan is a statehouse reporter for Cleveland.com covering politics and policy with a focus on heath policy, abortion and reproductive health policy, LGBTQ issues, cannabis policy and Cuyahoga...