How will our union benefit the workers at the Carnegie Museums?

  • The United Museum Workers value equity, transparency, and safety, and solidarity. With our union in place, we will be able bargain for a legally binding contract to guarantee real change.
  •  Equity. We will address how workers in various roles are compensated and how they are assessed and treated by managers.
  • Transparency. Our contracts will make clear what each worker’s responsibilities and expectations should be. Compensation, benefits and work rules will be enforced consistently without individual bias or favoritism.
  • Safety. We will demand that a permanent joint management-union health and safety committee be created to monitor conditions, identify problems and propose solutions.
  • Solidarity. A union is a vehicle for communication and mutual aid. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Museum Workers have helped many coworkers file for unemployment, provided personal protective equipment to staff when CMP neglected to do so. During our organizing effort we have already vastly improved communication and respect across the entire workforce.

Will our Union be committed to diversity, equity, access and inclusion?

  • The goals of the UMW and the recently-initiated CMP “IDEA Council” are one in the same - but the difference is that our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion can be incorporated into a legally-binding contract with management.
An ad-hoc, management-appointed council can make recommendations, but ultimately management has sole discretion to implement, or choose not to implement, its proposals. Collective bargaining can institutionalize a permanent union-management partnership and promote specific and enforceable programs in support diversity, equity, access and inclusion.
Eligible employees of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh can initially support the United Museum Workers by signing an authorization card. An authorization card says you want to join a union to secure your and collective bargaining rights. By signing it, you take an important step towards achieving a genuine voice in workplace decisions that affect you. When enough employees sign at a particular workplace, a formal election is held that allows all members of the bargaining unit to decide if they want union representation.
Signing a card is a confidential process - CMP management will NOT know you signed unless you tell them. CMP employees can sign an authorization card online at: http://usw.to/museum
 
Once an election is scheduled, employees will receive a notice of election with instructions on when and how to vote. Due to the changes to daily life imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, employees may be encouraged to vote by mail.

How do workers decide what to include in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA)?

  • Collective bargaining is the formal negotiation process that begins after we win our election. We will democratically elect a representative bargaining committee made up of colleagues you know and trust from across the museums. We will survey all of our coworkers to determine what is important to us: which improvements are top priorities, as well as which aspects of our workplace should be preserved. The bargaining committee will communicate with employees throughout this process, asking for opinions about certain issues and reporting back about progress.
 
Our bargaining committee will then sit with management representatives as equals to negotiate an agreement. CMP is legally required to bargain with us after we win our union election. When our bargaining committee and CMP’s representatives have what is known as a “tentative agreement,” we will have a chance to vote on whether to approve the contract or not. If we reject it, we go back to the bargaining table until we have a contract we ratify and approve, together.

What are some of our initial priorities for collective bargaining?

  • We have heard  the following concerns or priorities from CMP staff throughout the campaign: health & safety concerns in the workplace; opportunity for promotion or advancement; a living wage and fair compensation; benefits for part-time staff; parental leave; and a commitment to DEAI practices. It is typical for union contracts to include: provisions governing furloughs, layoffs, and recall rights when jobs reopen; union representation in contract-related disputes; employee rights with regard to formal disciplinary actions; and the mechanism for enrolling union members at hiring.

How do union dues work?

  • Union dues, about 1.45% of your gross earnings plus 2 cents per hour, may be collected by payroll deduction according to the union contract. Your dues support all the activities of your union. Slightly more than half goes to the United Steelworkers, who provide us with assistance in bargaining and enforcing our contract, and many other professional services. The other 44% is retained by the UMW to be used as we decide together.