Employees of the Barack Obama Foundation and Presidential Center have taken the first steps toward forming their union with AFSCME Council 31 in Illinois. 

A letter from 68 employees was delivered to the full workforce on Wednesday announcing the union organizing effort. 

“We are the workers who spend our days fulfilling the vision and values of the Obama Foundation,” they wrote. “We strongly believe in the mission to ‘inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world,’ and now we’d like to change ours.” 

Employees are now signing union authorization cards for the purpose of seeking voluntary recognition from foundation management. The new AFSCME affiliate, once formed, would represent about 250 employees who work in all aspects of Obama Foundation operations, including at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, at the foundation’s Washington D.C. offices, and throughout the country. 

“These employees are the heart of the Obama Foundation. Every day they do the work that makes the new Presidential Center such a remarkable addition to our city,” AFSCME Council 31 executive director Roberta Lynch said. “Together in our union, they can ensure that the Foundation and Presidential Center are every bit as good a place to work as the Center is to visit.” 

Some of the workplace challenges the workers want to address include heavy workloads, inadequate benefits, insufficient support from management, and high employee turnover. 

“Together in our union, we can find solutions to these issues,” the workers wrote. “We can advocate for a transparent and equitable workplace for everyone at the Obama Foundation, at every level.” 

The letter cited President Obama’s 2016 Open Letter to America’s Hardworking Men and Women, in which he said, “If I were looking for a good job that lets me build some security for my family, I’d join a union. If I saw a problem in my workplace, I’d organize my coworkers to do something about it.” 

Show your support for the AFSCME organizing effort at the Obama Foundation and Presidential Center by sending the workers a message at this link. 

More than 50,000 workers in libraries, museums, zoos and other cultural institutions across the country have gained a seat at the table and a voice on the job through the AFSCME Cultural Workers United campaign, the largest organizing effort of its kind in the nation.