NOVEMBER 7, 2022
Subject: All economic proposals on table, bargaining continues
Subject: All economic proposals on table, bargaining continues
This is a critical time for our Union and all of us in the United Museum Workers. We’re seeing museum unions win across the country, and we are particularly heartened by the success of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Union as they conclude negotiations for their first contract.
In our own negotiations, the management of the Carnegie Museums has stubbornly refused to address any proposal that they believe will have an ‘economic impact’. Early in contract discussions, management arbitrarily required that any and all proposed changes relating to money must be submitted in their entirety before they would issue any kind of response. There is some logic to management’s thinking; the museum believes that they have a limited pool of funds to allocate and would like to form a comprehensive response. But it has also been one of their most successful tactics to slow the bargaining process. This has meant that for the last year of negotiations, we have had effectively no insight into management's goals, their intentions, or where their limits lie when it comes to working with the union to establish a living wage and secure basic benefits for everyone who works in every component of the Carnegie Museums.
But that changes now.
Following our last two bargaining sessions (October 20th and 25th), the Bargaining Committee of the United Museum Workers submitted our full contingent of ‘economic proposals’, through which we have laid out a vision for a more equitable museum. The content of these proposals is comprehensive, containing language concerning everything from rates of compensation, paid time off accumulation, healthcare and sick leave, premium pay, free parking for all employees, and many more economic reforms. All this is now on the table in addition to the dozens of other non-economic proposals that we continue to advocate for.
It has been a long road to get here. The certification of this union in December of 2020 was critical in giving all of us a voice in the museum’s inconsistent response to the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last two years, we’ve collectively worked through health and safety issues, department reorganizations, and depreciating wages. In that time, we’ve been there to support our coworkers through their Weingarten rights when individual conflicts arise, addressed inconsistencies in year-end performance reviews, and negotiated the increase of the minimum wage for our frontline workers (twice!). Through all of this, we have built a Union where all of the workers communicate across components, know each other's strengths, collaborate on projects and support one another.
The members of your Bargaining Committee and your Contract Action Team are your coworkers. We don’t have particularly special skills or esoteric knowledge, but for the last few years, we have all devoted countless (uncompensated!) hours of our time trying to keep everyone informed, advocating for all of us, and strengthening the bonds across our vast museum system. This will only be possible with your visible support.
All of us who work for the museum do so out of passion for the arts, science, history, and for the world around us. We are all excited to share our knowledge and ideas in our local community and the global community of historical and cultural institutions that shepherd all of us to a deeper understanding of the world and our place in it. We hope that the upper management of the Carnegie Museums shares our vision for a workplace environment where people can foster their love for their jobs, find career advancement as their experience grows, and be compensated fairly the entire time.
Our work–and this fight–is not over. It has only just begun.
I hate to say it, but now will be the hardest part: advocating and agitating, demanding that we deserve fair treatment, a living wage, and the basic worker protections that are common and expected in our industry. We, too, can achieve the equitable contract we have envisioned. But only if we all work together.
In solidarity,
Ethan
Ethan Gladding has been full time at the Andy Warhol Museum as an Art Preparator for 3 and a half years. Before this job he was working in exhibit fabrication in the private sector and had assisted with Carnegie Museums installation work on an occasional basis. Ethan originally came to Pittsburgh 13 years ago to complete a BA of Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University. His 3 years working as a bike mechanic introduced him to numerous facets of Pittsburgh and its many communities which convinced him to stay. You can find him volunteering at the Millvale Tool Lending Library every Thursday night, riding his bicycle year round, rescuing the neighborhood cats with the assistance of local TNR groups, and creating Art in the form of detailed miniatures constructed from plastic garbage.
In our own negotiations, the management of the Carnegie Museums has stubbornly refused to address any proposal that they believe will have an ‘economic impact’. Early in contract discussions, management arbitrarily required that any and all proposed changes relating to money must be submitted in their entirety before they would issue any kind of response. There is some logic to management’s thinking; the museum believes that they have a limited pool of funds to allocate and would like to form a comprehensive response. But it has also been one of their most successful tactics to slow the bargaining process. This has meant that for the last year of negotiations, we have had effectively no insight into management's goals, their intentions, or where their limits lie when it comes to working with the union to establish a living wage and secure basic benefits for everyone who works in every component of the Carnegie Museums.
But that changes now.
Following our last two bargaining sessions (October 20th and 25th), the Bargaining Committee of the United Museum Workers submitted our full contingent of ‘economic proposals’, through which we have laid out a vision for a more equitable museum. The content of these proposals is comprehensive, containing language concerning everything from rates of compensation, paid time off accumulation, healthcare and sick leave, premium pay, free parking for all employees, and many more economic reforms. All this is now on the table in addition to the dozens of other non-economic proposals that we continue to advocate for.
It has been a long road to get here. The certification of this union in December of 2020 was critical in giving all of us a voice in the museum’s inconsistent response to the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last two years, we’ve collectively worked through health and safety issues, department reorganizations, and depreciating wages. In that time, we’ve been there to support our coworkers through their Weingarten rights when individual conflicts arise, addressed inconsistencies in year-end performance reviews, and negotiated the increase of the minimum wage for our frontline workers (twice!). Through all of this, we have built a Union where all of the workers communicate across components, know each other's strengths, collaborate on projects and support one another.
The members of your Bargaining Committee and your Contract Action Team are your coworkers. We don’t have particularly special skills or esoteric knowledge, but for the last few years, we have all devoted countless (uncompensated!) hours of our time trying to keep everyone informed, advocating for all of us, and strengthening the bonds across our vast museum system. This will only be possible with your visible support.
All of us who work for the museum do so out of passion for the arts, science, history, and for the world around us. We are all excited to share our knowledge and ideas in our local community and the global community of historical and cultural institutions that shepherd all of us to a deeper understanding of the world and our place in it. We hope that the upper management of the Carnegie Museums shares our vision for a workplace environment where people can foster their love for their jobs, find career advancement as their experience grows, and be compensated fairly the entire time.
Our work–and this fight–is not over. It has only just begun.
I hate to say it, but now will be the hardest part: advocating and agitating, demanding that we deserve fair treatment, a living wage, and the basic worker protections that are common and expected in our industry. We, too, can achieve the equitable contract we have envisioned. But only if we all work together.
In solidarity,
Ethan
Ethan Gladding has been full time at the Andy Warhol Museum as an Art Preparator for 3 and a half years. Before this job he was working in exhibit fabrication in the private sector and had assisted with Carnegie Museums installation work on an occasional basis. Ethan originally came to Pittsburgh 13 years ago to complete a BA of Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University. His 3 years working as a bike mechanic introduced him to numerous facets of Pittsburgh and its many communities which convinced him to stay. You can find him volunteering at the Millvale Tool Lending Library every Thursday night, riding his bicycle year round, rescuing the neighborhood cats with the assistance of local TNR groups, and creating Art in the form of detailed miniatures constructed from plastic garbage.
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