Workers at the Chicago History Museum are seeking a union with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, the union said Wednesday.
In a public letter signed by more than two dozen workers at the museum, employees said they were motivated by a desire for “livable and competitive wages and raises,” clarity around grievance and disciplinary procedures and a greater voice in workplace decisions. Their proposed wall-to-wall bargaining unit would include about 70 members of the museum staff, including curators, librarians, designers, visitor services workers and maintenance staff.
The organizing committee will decide whether to seek voluntary recognition from the museum or file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board at a later date, said Anders Lindall, a spokesperson for the union.
AFSCME Council 31 has organized many of Chicago’s most prominent museums over the last several years, including the Art Institute and its affiliated school, the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium.
“The history of Chicago is deeply rooted in the labor movement, and we are honored to not only preserve and share, but to make our own place in that history alongside our colleagues at cultural institutions across Chicago,” members of the history museum workers’ organizing committee wrote in an open letter in which they urged museum leadership to honor their “legal right to organize without anti-union tactics and coercion.”
“As stewards of Chicago’s rich labor history, we ask that there be no hiring of anti-union lawyers or wasting of resources on anti-union meetings and literature,” the workers wrote.
In a statement, the museum said it “honor[ed] our employees’ right to form a union” and would “encourage all employees to make their voices heard.”
“Regardless of any unionization election outcome, we intend to listen and engage with all staff to understand their vision for a positive work environment, while preserving our collective commitment to the Chicago History Museum and its mission,” the museum said.
Marissa Croft, a member of the organizing committee who works as a research and insights analyst at the museum, said she was involved in the successful union drive amongst graduate students at Northwestern University when she was a student there. “That process really showed me how much you can win when you get together with your fellow workers,” Croft said in an interview with the Tribune.
Croft said she makes $55,000 a year. In her two years working at the museum, Croft said, staffers have received small cost of living raises of around 3%, but not larger merit raises.
It’s a misconception, she said, that cultural workers’ passion for their work is enough to sustain them. She said museum staff sometimes volunteer at the museum for programming or events outside their job descriptions. Croft herself said she volunteers as a docent at the museum on weekends.
“It’s actually the passion we have for our work that subsidizes the museum,” she said.
