Brampton Library workers vote to strike, citing understaffing and affordability crisis

Ninety-seven percent of Brampton Library workers have voted in favour of a strike mandate.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1776 announced on June 26 that they were escalating a contract dispute centered on wages, scheduling, and understaffing that both the union and the library’s top administrator say they hope to resolve through bargaining rather than a picket line. 

The overwhelming support for a strike does not mean that a walkout is guaranteed. Brampton Library CEO Todd Kyle told The Pointer that all nine branches remain open, with their normal working hours, and that this summer has in fact been one of the system’s busiest. The summer reading club, Kyle said, has seen heavy use. 

Both sides say that conciliation efforts are underway, with bargaining ongoing. 

CUPE Local 1776 represents about 180 full and part-time employees across Brampton Library’s nine branches. The local’s collective agreement with the library expired earlier this year, and the two sides have been at the bargaining table since. 

The Union says the vote reflects years of frustration over wages that have not kept pace with inflation and the City of Brampton’s population growth, along with staffing levels that leave branches unable to fill shifts when workers call in sick, leaving remaining staff to absorb the workload or, at times, forcing the cancellation of programming such as makerspace sessions. 

Brampton Library operates with funding received from property taxes. The City’s 2024 budget shows that the Library received $21.4 million in funding. In 2025, this figure increased to $22.2 million. In 2026, the funding increased to only $22.6 million, representing a 1.4 per cent increase. 

Kyle, for his part, said that compared to other municipal services, Brampton Library services fared better.

Brampton Library CEO Todd Kyle said that compared to other municipal-funded services, the Brampton Library system fared much better, and is focusing on improving services for the public.

(The Pointer/Alexis Wright)

“The library did comparatively well in the last budget process in terms of compared to other municipally funded services,” Kyle said, pointing to the 1.4 per cent operating budget increase. “We have been able to maintain our service levels and maintain the staffing at the front line, in a couple of cases, adding full-time positions.”

He said that they were able to accomplish this by “looking very hard” at areas where they would be able to place non-union positions on hold amid budget limitations. He said that the focus has always been “providing the best we can at the front line for the services that people depend on.”

The two sides differ sharply on what the 1.4 per cent increase means in practice.

Union leaders say the funding has not translated into the predictable scheduling or staffing levels members need, and that the Library and City are, in the words of CUPE’s own public messaging, preventing the library from serving Brampton’s growing population. 

Kyle believes that Brampton Library is offering competitive compensation for their workers. 

“We believe we are not only seeking, but we actually are offering what we would consider extremely competitive compensation when compared to other public libraries in the GTA,” he said. “To me, that’s the best measure of how we are treating our staff.”

Meanwhile, CUPE 1776 leadership is saying that this strike vote is representative of some longstanding issues their workers have been facing. 

“Library workers voted so strongly in favour of our strike mandate because of the ongoing affordability crisis,” said Jayda Turner, President of CUPE 1776, in an interview with The Pointer. “Funding for the library hasn’t kept up with Brampton’s population growth and the increases in inflation.”

Turner further stated that scheduling, and not just pay, is central to the union’s demands. She said that thin schedules get “shuffled around to fill gaps,” which cancels programming and that the union has seen bargaining progress move slowly. 

“We’re looking for a deal that respects the increased cost of living, because we’re at a breaking point,” Turner said. “We do love our jobs. We love the community that we serve and we want them to have what they deserve.”

Stefanie Cowton, Vice President of the CUPE Local 1776 said that morale among workers has been low for the past several years. Cowton also mentioned that management and the board are aware of the staff’s struggle in the affordability crisis, but have not taken concrete steps to address it. She mentioned instances where workers had to depend on food banks to put food on the table for their families. 

“We face staff shortages almost every day at our branches,” Cowtown said. “Those who are at work end up doing the job of two or more people in a shift.”

Heron Burchett, a Branch Steward, echoed Turner’s statements, saying that the union does not want to go on strike. 

“We want to stay and continue serving the community that we love and the libraries that you love,” Burchett said. 

Kyle also affirmed that the Library is seeking a fair deal with the Union. 

“We are absolutely focused on that collective bargaining process,” he said. “We want an agreement that offers fair and competitive pay and working conditions for employees, while making sure we have the resources to fund the services we have.”

The Brampton Library master plan found the City of Brampton has the fewest library branches and least library space per capita among Canada’s 10 largest cities.

(Alexis Wright/The Pointer files)

Brampton Library’s contract dispute lands amid a longer pattern of underfunding of Brampton’s critical needs as a result of Mayor Patrick Brown’s repeated budget freezes that have kept City revenues stagnant.  

In successive years, Brampton Library’s capital budget, the funding which would be used for facilities, furniture and equipment, has been repeatedly reduced under Brown’s budgets. Brown’s proposed 2024 budget cut library capital funding by roughly $1.7 million, leaving the department with $993,000 down from the $2.7 million forecast the year before, even as the City’s own State of Local Infrastructure (SOLI) report found that 38 per cent of the Library’s furniture and equipment in “very poor” condition, with a further 46 per cent rated poor to fair. 

This continued into 2025. Brown’s proposed budget dropped Library capital funding from $1.74 million to $850,000, and cut collection development funding by more than half, from $1.54 million to $700,000. This was happening at the same time the City’s overall salary, wage and benefit spending rose 8.2 per cent that year, driven largely by non-union compensation. 

In 2025, Kyle, speaking to council about the budget described “growing demand for physical space and ongoing capacity challenges,” citing population growth of roughly 10 percent expected within three kilometres of the Chinguacousy branch over five years, and 23 per cent growth expected near the planned Clearville branch in East Brampton. 

The funding pressure has coincided with a long-running problem with lack of space. In 2023, the Library’s busy Chinguacousy branch was evicted from the Bramalea Civic Centre with only months’ notice to make way for a Toronto Metropolitan University medical school. The Library was subsequently moved to a much smaller location at the Chinguacousy Park Ski Chalet, a temporary space that Kyle told The Pointer at the time as a “real step backwards” for a community that relies heavily on the branch. 

This happened at a time when the Library’s own master plan found that the City of Brampton had the fewest library branches and least library space per capita among Canada’s ten largest cities.

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