PPL sends layoff notices to 120 workers

PROVIDENCE – Layoff notices were sent this week to nearly every employee in the Providence Public Library system as the private nonprofit prepares to hand over control of its nine neighborhood branches to the city government.

But PPL is no longer planning to close the doors of the Central Branch on Empire Street – a proposal that PPL’s board of trustees had discussed in recent weeks, library spokeswoman Tonia Mason told Providence Business News today. “Right now, the plan is the doors will be open,” she said.

Last week, the PPL board agreed to transfer control of the nine branches to the city within the next two months. The city is expected to give day-to-day management responsibilities for the branches to Providence Community Library (PCL), a newly formed nonprofit.

Mason said the layoff notices – which were mailed to roughly 120 people who work at Central and the nine branches – had to be sent to comply with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires employers to give workers formal notification if it plans either a mass layoff or a plant closing.

The layoff notices were sent to “virtually everyone” who works for PPL, Mason said.

Although many of those employees are expected to keep their jobs under the library’s new management, PPL is legally obligated to say it plans to lay them off for the transition to proceed, according to Mason. The first letters could arrive as soon as today, she said.

The notices tell employees they will be laid off on June 30, which is the last day of PPL’s fiscal year and the deadline set by the trustees for the city to take over the branches. The notices also tell library employees who are represented by a union if they have the right to “bump” another employee from their job based on seniority.

It is not yet clear when or how the library employees will learn whether their jobs are safe, which has stirred deep concern among PPL’s rank-and-file work force. PPL officials held a meeting with staff members on Monday to discuss the layoff notices and Dan Austin, the library system’s director of human resources, followed up with more information in an internal e-mail message.

In addition, PPL officials held their first meeting to discuss the transition on Tuesday. Although no city officials attended, Mason said PPL has “every expectation there will be somebody from the city or another designated party” assigned to work with PPL on transitioning the branches out of its hands.

Karen Southern, a spokeswoman for Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, said the mayor “remains committed to ensuring that library services are available” to city residents and is continuing to work with PPL and PCL to figure out next steps.

Cicilline had suggested that the PPL trustees give the city control of Central in addition to the nine neighborhood branches to reduce inefficiencies. But, Mason said, “At this point, we’re moving forward with the plan that PPL is operating Central, because nothing has changed that.”

Closing the Central Branch to the public was “essentially, a worst-case scenario,” she added. PPL is also exploring additional funding sources to shore up its budget for the 2010 fiscal year, she said.

In addition to those employees who are hired by the city or PCL, some others will continue to work for PPL at the Central Branch.

Only about 20 employees at Central were expected to keep their jobs if PPL had closed its doors and focused only on virtual service. But with that plan now unlikely, Mason said more than 20 workers would remain at the Empire Street branch, although she also said it was too early to offer projected figures for staffing levels.

“We’re working on the numbers,” she said. “They’re changing every day.”

Providence Public Library is a 131-year-old private, nonprofit organization that serves as a public library for Providence. It also operates the Statewide Reference Resource Center, serving all Rhode Islanders with educational, cultural enrichment and economic advancement opportunities. To learn more, visit ProvLib.org.

For news and information about Providence, visit ProvidenceRI.com.

This article has been updated with comments from Karen Southern, spokeswoman for Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline.