Workers at the Museum of Science and Industry announced their intention to unionize Wednesday.
With the announcement, the museum employees join a swell of unionization efforts that have taken hold at museums across Chicago. The museum staff are seeking representation with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which has over the last year and a half won union elections at the Art Institute and its affiliated school, the Field Museum and the Newberry Library.
In an open letter signed by more than 50 workers at the museum, staff said they were seeking pay equity, increased professional development opportunities to prevent what they described as high turnover and understaffing as well as improvements to the museum’s health and safety protocols, including increased training.
The prospective bargaining unit would include about 140 museum employees who work in guest experience and operations as well as the museum’s education departments. The workers are organizing under the name Museum of Science & Industry Workers United.
“I personally love working here, and it’s a wonder to be here,” said Gary Holliday II, a guest engagement facilitator who works giving tours at the museum. “But the more I work here and the more I got accustomed here, the more I started seeing issues that arise.”
When workers brought up workplace issues to higher-ups at the museum in the past, “it just felt like our voices were not getting heard,” said Holliday, 20.
Low pay is a major sticking point, said Holliday, who said he makes $19 an hour. “I live by the paycheck,” he said. Anders Lindall, a spokesperson for AFSCME 31, said that most employees in the prospective bargaining unit make between $17 and $20 an hour.
Understaffing has also led to workers being called in on their days off, Holliday said.
In a statement, the museum said it “respects its employees’ rights to choose to unionize if they believe that is appropriate.”
“We are proud of the culture we have instilled and the actions we have taken to be inclusive and transparent with our employees,” the statement read. “A huge part of our long-term strategy has been and will continue to be focused on recruiting, retaining and rewarding employees. Compensation is an important component of that plan, and we’re always looking at market data to ensure we’re paying a competitive wage and we make adjustments when appropriate.”
The museum said it had a “very active open-door policy for all staff members to engage about any and all issues and opportunities.”
Workers have begun signing union authorization cards, the first official step in a union campaign. Lindall said more workers than the 54 who had signed the open letter had signed cards. Employees can file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board with 30% support from prospective bargaining unit members; they can also seek voluntary recognition of their unit if they secure majority support.
In their open letter, museum staff called on the institution to “honor our decisions and legal right to organize.”
“The Museum operates like a machine with many moving parts, and it cannot thrive if we are unable to stand in solidarity with one another. No more blanket inclusivity statements without genuine demonstrable change,” the museum staff wrote. “No longer will we tolerate facing the brunt of these issues, and being met with apathy instead of improvements.”
