AFSCME Local 526 represents about 100 workers at the natural history museum, and has been fighting for a decent contract since November. The union submitted in advance a formal request for union members to speak before the board of directors, but the request was denied, so workers decided to attend in protest.

When the workers filed out of the board meeting together workers chanted, “What do we want? Fair contract! When do we want it? Now!” and union leaders and supporters gave short speeches outside the board meeting.

Union members, who are currently working without a contract, are demanding livable wages, fair raises, paid parental leave, and no cuts to health insurance and 401(k) benefits. Administration of the private non-profit MPM Inc. is demanding massive cuts to benefits and raises that lag behind the increasing cost of living.

According to a flier passed out by union members, it would take 24 years for the lowest wage workers to reach a $15 minimum wage at the rate proposed by administration.

The union has used workplace actions to beat back some of the worst proposals, which originally included a pay freeze and tripling the insurance deductible. Museum workers organized a large informational picket, call-in days and flyering museum guests. Dozens of museum workers also delivered a petition to the CEO.

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #PublicSectorUnions #AFSCME #AFSCMELocal526 #MilwaukeePublicMuseum

Milwaukee, WI – On the afternoon of January 18, unionized workers at the Milwaukee Public Museum held a lively picket during “Museum Week” activities, to demand a decent contract. Over 50 museum workers and supporters, including museum members, donors and elected officials, joined the picket outside the popular natural history museum in downtown Milwaukee.

After months of negotiations with Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM), Inc., the museum workers are now working without a contract, which means they are released from the “no strike” clause and could legally go on strike at any time. AFSCME Local 526, the union that represents the approximately 100 museum employees, has organized multiple workplace actions demanding livable wages, fair raises, affordable health insurance and paid parental leave.

At the January 18 picket, union leaders criticized museum administration, who runs the private non-profit MPM Inc, for proposing pay freezes for high seniority workers, tripling the health insurance deductible, and cutting the 401(k).

Speaking at the picket, AFSCME Local 526 President Jaclyn Kelly said, “Many museum workers earn poverty wages, and many more are underpaid for the professional work they do,” adding that museum administration's most recent wage proposal was “insulting” at only nine cents an hour for the lowest-paid workers.

“What's outrageous? Poverty wages!” workers yelled as they carried green picket signs reading “Livable wages now.”

Picketing union members handed fliers to museum visitors, asking them to call MPM CEO Dr. Ellen Censky (414-278-2746) and ask her to approve a contract that respects museum workers by providing livable wages, fair raises, affordable health insurance and paid parental leave.

“Revenue is up, donations are up; it's time for museum administration to invest in us because we're fed up! We can't afford administration's proposed cuts,” said union Vice President Jacob Flom during the picket. “The only option we have is to fight until we get a fair contract, and that's exactly what we are doing.”

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #PublicSectorUnions #AFSCMELocal526 #MilwaukeePublicMuseum

Milwaukee, WI – On Dec. 11, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, led by its Young Workers Committee, held a press conference along with allies in response to a construction worker displaying a Ku Klux Klan sticker in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

Carrying the banner, “No Nazis in the house of labor,” 75 people gathered in celebration after American Sewer Services agreed to fire the employee for his show of support for the terrorist organization.

“As trade unionists, we don’t usually like to see a union brother get fired,” said Jacob Flom, vice president of AFSCME Local 526, and Chairperson of the Young Workers Committee of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, “But, if you’re a Klansman and you’re a threat to our fellow workers, you’re not our union brother.”

The Young Workers Committee offered this further statement, “No worker can be both a unionist and a fascist; white supremacists are the enemy of organized labor and the entire multinational working class. The KKK is a white supremacist terrorist group responsible for killing African Americans, LBGTQ people, trade unionists, and others.”

As a result of this action and public outcry, the owner of American Sewer Services is being called to appear before Milwaukee's Common Council's Steering and Rules Committee to answer questions regarding their employee's terrible behavior. This hearing will take place Dec. 14.

The event was cosponsored by the Young Workers Committee of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, NAACP, AFL-CIO, Voces de la Frontera, LULAC, Jewish Community Relations Council, the Milwaukee Dr. Martin Luther King Justice Coalition, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, and the Young People's Resistance Committee.

#MilwaukeeWI #Antiracism #Antifascism #YoungWorkersCommittee #MilwaukeeAreaLaborCouncil #AFSCMELocal526