LOS ANGELES – Following a wave of successful organizing drives among cultural institutions throughout the city, workers at two world-famous museums are coming together to form one union.
Employees at the Natural History Museum and La Brea Tar Pits are forming a union through AFSCME District Council 36 as the Natural History Museum & Tar Pits Workers Union (NHMTPWU). The new union would represent approximately 300 workers and include performers, engineers, educators, guest relations associates, and more.
In a letter circulated among staff, workers listed longstanding issues they want to address through their union. That includes better pay and benefits; transparency; safe working conditions; inclusion, diversity and accessibility; and a workplace that values, empowers and advocates for its employees.
“A union … means strength in numbers for the securing of better wages, benefits and treatment for full time and part-time employees,” said Timothy Castro, who works as a guest relations associate.
Program Manager Juliann Vannordstrand said, “I support our union because I believe that workers deserve a voice in the creation of a truly safe, equitable and inclusive workplace.”
Mounting frustration over stagnant wages was a key factor powering the unionization drive. Despite management insisting the museums could not afford better pay, benefits and compensation for employees, the Natural History Museum recently spent $75 million to open a new wing and a community hub last fall.
Ren Kascle, who works as a guest associate, supports a union because they believe museum staff deserve better.
“We all play such an important role in such an important space and deserve to feel properly supported,” said Kascle.
In a letter to museum management and trustees, the workers asked them to voluntarily recognize the union by March 31.
Many nonprofit and cultural institutions in Los Angeles County such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and Academy Foundation of Motion Pictures granted voluntary recognition to their staff unions. All of those unions also organized with DC 36 and are part of AFSCME Cultural Workers United, the largest organizing movement for cultural workers in the country. Cultural Workers United represents 42,000 cultural workers at museums, zoos, libraries and other cultural institutions, more than any other union.