AICWU at national union convention

Two members of our AICWU bargaining committee, Sheila Majumdar from AIC and Kait Roelofs from SAIC, attended the AFSCME national convention in Philadelphia in mid-July. (AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is the national union with which AICWU is affiliated.) 

The convention drew more than 2,000 delegates who attended workshops and panel discussions and heard speeches from national leaders such as Georgia governor candidate Stacey Abrams, U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and AFSCME President Lee Saunders - as well as from Kait and Sheila themselves, who told about how we built AICWU!

The best part, Sheila and Kait say, was meeting union members from other arts institutions (organized as part of AFSCME's Cultural Workers United campaign) and elsewhere, and taking part in a massive rally to support employees of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

"The AFSCME convention was an eye-opening experience. We met so many incredible people from different fields who are passionate about organizing their workplaces and empowering their colleagues," Sheila says.

"The same stories kept coming up, of institutions prioritizing their profits and/or public image over the well-being and dignity of workers, of workers being set up to fail due to understaffing and unreasonable policies that also jeopardized their ability to do their work well and safely. We really are all in this fight together."

Kait agrees. "I spoke with library workers, museum workers, health care workers, child care providers, and social workers, and we all shared similar challenges and motivations," she says. We're all organizing for our health, safety, security, and for our futures."

Of the PMA rally, Kait went on, "Seeing AFSCME members from all over the country and different lines of work show up for our union siblings and demand a fair contract was incredible. I came away knowing we have a broad network that will show up for us, too."

"I left feeling even more inspired by the collective power of my colleagues," Sheila says. "I also left with an understanding that our strength lies in our unity and in our ability to continually demonstrate this solidarity to leadership. Our success isn’t up to the bargaining team alone. The ratified contract isn’t the end of the fight. We need a sustained effort to ensure we are partners in shaping the museum and school into the workplaces we desire."