Workers at the Akron-Summit County Public Library have unionized.

An Aug. 25 release from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199 WV/KY/OH said the workers' vote to organize "sent a strong message to library leadership that they will no longer be able to deny them the benefits they have rightly earned."

Samara Knight, executive vice president of SEIU 1199, said the new union covers all library system employees with some exceptions, including managers and security guards.

"It's a victorious day," she said. "We've been at this since Feb. 28; workers did a march on the boss in April; we filed a petition in April."

The release said issues such as security for library staff, wages, benefits and retaliation "will now be impossible for library leadership to brush under the rug

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