At packed event, community leaders urge management to be truly neutral
What an outpouring of support for our union, and for our right as workers to a fair election, free from management interference! Over the lunch hour today our AICWU Organizing Committee of coworkers was joined on the museum steps for a news conference featuring Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Congressman Sean Casten, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, along with dozens of other community leaders including elected officials, faith leaders, the Workers Center for Racial Justice, Women Employed and many more.
These leaders stood together to make a clear, strong request of AIC and SAIC senior leadership: Stop interfering with our right to organize, and instead embrace the following principles.
True neutrality. The employer will cease its efforts to persuade employees to vote for no union and take a neutral position on the question of unionization.
No intimidation. Recognizing the inherent imbalance of power between management and workers, leadership should cease its dissemination of anti-union talking points, cancel anti- union trainings with middle managers, and instruct managers not to talk about the election or related issues with employees.
Museum/school resources for museum/school mission. Expenditures on attorneys or consultants for the purpose of influencing employees' vote should cease immediately. AIC and SAIC resources should go toward advancing AIC's and SAIC's missions.
Non-disparagement. Neither the employer nor the union will distribute literature which disparages either party.
Equal access/equal time. If the employer holds meetings at work/on work time at which the election is discussed, the union will be present, have equal access and equal time.
At the event, several of our colleagues—including Katie Bourgeois and Eala O’Se from SAIC and Robert Burnier and Catie Rutledge from AIC—spoke from the heart. They shared about why we’re organizing, the goals we will work to achieve once we’ve won our union, the ongoing misinformation and scare tactics that leadership has employed, and our call on management to do better by joining us in a spirit of collaboration.
“We are forming our union for many reasons,” Eala said. “We want equity in pay and promotions. Transparency, accountability, and a voice in how decisions are made. We want clear job descriptions that actually match our responsibilities, instead of working three jobs to make up for the people who are no longer here. We need better pay and benefits to help attract and retain employees, something that is especially lacking for our employees of color. We want professional development and clear opportunities for advancement.”
“Working for these institutions should not just be a job that we’re grateful to have while we struggle to get by,” Catie said. “It should be a career that we can devote ourselves to and that rewards us in return. But despite the vast resources that both institutions enjoy, leadership’s approach has been to cut and slash, laying people off, not replacing them, stretching thinner and thinner the staff that remain. By building our union, we are creating our own vehicle to advocate ourselves for what we as staff need to succeed.”
“The decision before us in this election has already been made by the big majorities of our coworkers who signed union cards,” Katie said. “Management should have simply respected that decision and recognized our union but they refused to do so. The truth is that their behavior matches perfectly with the problems we’ve been raising and are building our union to address. Everything they do just emphasizes why we need our OWN structure and our OWN voice.”
“We fully endorse the principles that have been laid out for true neutrality from management to allow for a free and fair election,” Robert concluded. “We are calling on senior leadership of AIC and SAIC to embrace these principles too. We are building AICWU because we want transparency, because we want equity, so obviously we’re going to be about that in this election process as well. Management says they share those goals, but their behavior has been very different. But it’s not too late for them to change.”
After the event, Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued this statement of support:
“The Art Institute of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute are vital institutions in our city’s world renowned arts and culture scene. Their knowledgeable and hardworking staff are what makes those institutions awe thousands of visitors from around the world each day. As those workers enter a union election, I urge the interested parties to ensure a fair election process that is free from intimidation or pressure tactics.
“In all union election environments, my administration encourages employers to maintain neutrality. This also means ensuring that both parties should be guaranteed equal time to present at meetings on work time at which the election is discussed. A free and fair democratic process should be accessible to all workers in our city, and will ultimately guarantee that the AIC and SAIC are stronger and healthier institutions that can continue to serve our city and visitors from all over the world for generations to come.”
In addition, here’s some of what the elected officials who were present had to say:
“We are so proud of this institution but even prouder of the workers that make it so great. We are telling management—the leaders of this institution—that Members of Congress, aldermen and the Cook County President are here today because we demand justice for the workers. We insist that the workers get their demands and that management decide they will work together.” - Congresswoman Schakowsky
"We are better when we stand together. That’s always been what’s great about our country. Two hundred fifty years ago, De Tocqueville said citizens are independent and weak until they learn to aid one another. More recently, Pete Seeger said the union makes us strong. Thank you for standing up and standing together!” - Congressman Casten
“I’m a history teacher, and I always say, if you work an 8-hour day, a 40-hour week, if you’ve got sick pay, a pension, family leave, you have a labor union to thank for that. It wasn’t the corporations who decided from the generosity of their hearts to give people those benefits. It’s because people went and organized and fought and struggled in their unions. So I’m proud to be here with the workers of the Art Institute and the School of the Art Institute and their ability to organize. We are going to stand with the workers!” - County Board President Preckwinkle
