Essex County Library workers have been back on the job for more than a year, but it appears not much has changed since the strike came to an end.
CUPE Local 2974 spokesperson Lori Wightman says a report done by an outside agency found the majority of employees are feeling frustrated.
Results from a survey found words like toxic, tense and unpleasant used to describe the current work environment.
Wightman says all levels need to work together to find a solution.
"There's some hurdles that we have to overcome, management, staff, board, all together. Part of it is resulting from the strike and some of it was stuff that came up prior to the strike. In any system, there can always be improvements and I think our members here are very invested in making those improvements."
Essex County library workers on the picket lines in LaSalle (AM800 file photo)
She says there's some lingering effects from the strike.
"The strike was really long and things were said and put out into the public that hurt people's feelings and it takes time to get back to a good place and I think that both sides are trying to do that. Staff is working very hard to make sure that the public has the same excellent service they've always had."
Wightman says she's confident improvements can be made if management and staff work together.
"If both sides are committed to working on the issues that have been highlighted in this survey I absolutely think that any problem can be bettered. It's a matter of both sides working with respect and dignity and let's get some communication lines open and I see no reason why we can't make this system an awesome system."
With the report comes a long list of recommendations to boost morale at libraries across the county.
Wightman says those recommendations have been passed on to the Library Cultural Audit Committee to be implemented.
The 231 day Essex County library strike ended in February 2017.