Building the Penn Museum our community needs, inside and out.
UNION FAQS
WHAT IS A UNION?
In the most general sense, a labor union is any organization of workers collectively advocating for themselves. In the United States, a labor union is a group of workers who collectively bargain with their employer to create a contract that sets standards for their working conditions and is protected by federal labor law, most notably in the private sector, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935. The union of workers in any given workplace can organize itself independently, or can affiliate with a national or international labor union. We have opted to affiliate with AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, District Council 47. We'll join the newly formed Local 397 for Museum and Cultural Workers in Southeastern PA.
WHY AFSCME DC47, LOCAL 397?
AFSCME DC47 helped us file our cards with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and will assist in our election campaign, help us to draft our first contract, and guide us through the negotiation process of getting our first contract signed. After our contract is ratified, they will provide ongoing support in the form of office resources, meeting spaces, legal resources, and more.
After talking to different organizations, AFSCME District Council 47 (DC47) rose to the top for reasons including:
Local presence
Relevant experience—DC47 represents workers at the PMA, Philadelphia Zoo, Free Library of Philadelphia, Temple University, and social service workers in several non-profit organizations. They also represent two other staff unions at Penn—library workers and dining service workers.
City connections—DC47 represents City of Philadelphia workers and has experience and a long history working with city government and city agencies.
Museum and Cultural Workers Local 397— Many of the challenges that motivate Penn Museum workers to unionize are common throughout the museum and cultural sector, and we are excited to collaborate with our new union siblings to address them.
WHO IS ORGANIZING PMWU?
Penn Museum staffers! From the beginning, this effort has been by staff, for staff. Conversations started in early 2020 and have grown since then.
People have gotten involved to whatever degree they’re able—meeting weekly to coordinate and plan next steps, talking with coworkers and community members about the campaign, and committing to vote "Yes" to win our union. Every action takes us closer to winning and improving the museum for all of us. If you're a Penn Museum worker who'd like to be more involved, please email phillysphinx@gmail.com.
WHO SUPPORTS THE UNION?
PMWU has broad-based support from workers in departments across the Museum. A supermajority of eligible staff signed cards saying they want to form a union and affiliate with AFSCME DC47.
WHAT IS A BARGAINING UNIT?
A bargaining unit is the group of workers who are covered by the union’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA), colloquially known as the “union contract.” The “bargaining unit” and the “union” in a given workplace are often synonymous terms. In some workplaces there are multiple bargaining units covering different sectors of the staff, and they may or may not be affiliated with one another or the same national union. The bargaining unit we're voting for is wall-to-wall, meaning all eligible staff are included and bargain together as one unit. The more united we are, the more empowered we are at the bargaining table.
WHO'S IN THE BARGAINING UNIT?
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) excludes certain categories of employees—those who supervise other Museum employees, guards, and anyone represented by another union, among others—from joining PMWU. Our election agreement with Penn also excludes faculty, academic employees, and student workers.
If you are a Penn Museum employee and you don't fall into any of the above categories, then you are most likely union-eligible and will receive a ballot to vote in the election. There are a few workers whose eligibility is still being determined. They will vote with provisional ballots (ballots would only be counted if they could determine the outcome of the election), with their eligibility resolved after the election.
WHO MAKES DECISIONS FOR THE UNION?
We do! The union is a democracy. We are building our union from the grassroots, so we have a lot of power to decide how it works. Union members will democratically determine bargaining priorities and form a bargaining committee. This is why it is vital to have representatives from every division and department actively involved in union business. These coworkers are assisted by DC47 representatives to negotiate the terms of a contract with representatives of University and Museum management. We’ll begin forming a bargaining committee and determining our contract priorities once we've won our election.
We are also joining a Local and a District Council that have their own governing bodies and documents. Once we've won a contract and become official, dues-paying members of AFSCME DC47 Local 397, we'll have the opportunity to vote on decisions of the Local and to run for elected leadership positions.
WHAT IS COLLECTIVE BARGAINING?
Collective bargaining is the process by which working people, through their unions, negotiate contracts with their employers to determine their terms of employment, including pay, benefits, hours, leave, job health and safety policies, and more. Employers are not obligated to bargain with individual employees over things like pay, benefits, and working conditions; but they are legally obligated to bargain with the union representing employees. For us, that means that we’ll work with DC47 staff to develop bargaining priorities, and we’ll benefit from their experience when they represent us in negotiations with management.
Collective bargaining is a powerful tool. In 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics compared the wages of unionized and non-unionized workers. Unionized workers earned about 20% more than non-union workers, on average. And unions have helped workers negotiate stronger health and safety protections during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WHAT IS A CONTRACT, AND WHAT DOES A CONTRACT COVER?
A contract is the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) reached through negotiations between the union representing workers and the employer. The CBA sets standards for wages, benefits, and working conditions for all employees included in the bargaining unit. The CBA can also include things like establishing a labor-management committee. What collective bargaining can’t do is control the operations and management of the organization—that falls under management rights. Before a CBA takes effect, it has to be voted on and ratified by the members of the union.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO WIN A CONTRACT?
Good question! On average, first contracts can take anywhere from one year to eighteen months to negotiate, because there are so many details about the labor-management relationship to work out. Once the first contract is established, subsequent ones, or “successor agreements,” can often be negotiated in a matter of days.
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH UNION DUES?
Unions collect dues that go toward operating expenses, legal counsel, staff salaries, and worker organizing. Dues paid by existing DC47 unions have helped us organize PMWU. Locals set their dues rate by voting it into a Constitution. We are joining a Local with a dues rate set at 1.8% of individual gross pay, automatically deducted per pay period. In the future, we will have an opportunity to vote on any constitutional amendments to change the dues rate. Most importantly, no one pays any dues until we vote to ratify a contract. This is a great reason to fight hard for pay increases during negotiations!
Our contract will also include something called a Union Security clause. This is language that protects us from any efforts to discourage union membership by making sure that everyone in the bargaining unit either becomes a dues-paying member of the union or pays fees equal to the amount of dues. Everyone in the bargaining unit benefits from the protections of a union contract, whether they wish to become members or not.
HOW WILL UNIONIZING CHANGE MY DAY-TO-DAY WORK?
As a union, we can’t (and don’t want to!) micromanage our members’ day-to-day work. In most cases, having a CBA doesn’t change anything about where, when, how, and with whom you work. It doesn’t change your relationship with your supervisor, and it definitely doesn’t force everyone to work on the same rigid schedule. The biggest change is about the right to collective bargaining: management will not be able to strike deals with individual employees about their wages, benefits, or working conditions, because this undermines the collective bargaining process.
WHAT IS A STRIKE, AND HOW ARE STRIKES DECIDED?
A strike is a tactic available to workers to pressure their employer in specific circumstances, like if contract negotiations break down. Our CBA will include a clause prohibiting strikes and other work stoppages for the life of the contract. Workers in a union may vote to strike during contract negotiations, but the decision is always made democratically and as a tactic of last resort.