Why unionize? Why now?

  • The United Museum Workers seek to join our voices to collectively advocate for a more positive workplace that can best serve staff AND our community. The staff at CMP began organizing in late 2019, and there has never been a better time for workers to join together in raising issues and finding solutions.
  •  The COVID crisis of 2020 is not just a health challenge that must be addressed. Across our nation, the dislocations of COVID-19 have revealed exactly how precarious the 21st Century economy makes our existence; how many of us live paycheck to paycheck and without adequate health benefits; and how so many companies and nonprofit institutions have put their own power ahead of the welfare of their employees and their communities. Museum workers across the country are initiating a wave of union organizing; the United Museum Workers is our ripple in that wave.

Why affiliate with the United Steelworkers?

​The earliest activists among CMP staff met with several unions before selecting the United Steelworkers (USW) for our representation. USW represents thousands of workers across many diverse industries, such as metals, manufacturing, paper, and forestry, but also health care, pharmacies and pharmaceuticals, civil service, law, finance, transportation, and higher education. The USW, with its roots in the Pittsburgh-area steel mills dating back to the 1870’s, is now the largest industrial union in North America with nearly 1.2 million members.
​There is an ironic historical echo in affiliating with the Steelworkers. The Carnegie Museums were founded in 1895 by steel giant Andrew Carnegie - who was notoriously anti-union in his labor practices. Museum staff was also inspired and encouraged by the success of the staff at the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh organizing with USW in 2019 - a similarly-beloved nonprofit that is dear to the Pittsburgh community.

Who is eligible? What is a “wall-to-wall” unit?

  • The USW encouraged us to organize as an all-inclusive “wall-to-wall” bargaining unit. Despite working at four different museums, CMP employees share common working conditions, professional interests and career goals. We’re much stronger as a diverse but nevertheless collective voice, standing together in solidarity. Rather than allowing ourselves to be divided by museum and professional distinctions, we will bargain collectively with CMP management as colleagues. 
​Essentially, if you receive a paycheck from CMP and you are not a supervisory or confidential employee, or already part of the established SEIU or IUOE units in the Facilities department, then you are eligible. Having the word “Manager” or “Supervisor” in your title does not automatically exclude you from the right to unionize.

I want to know more about the union. Who can help me?