Why Museum Workers Keep Unionizing

 In These Times -In late March, workers at Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum, one of the top ten ranked children’s museums in the country, voted to join the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees District Council 47 Local 397. The landslide win (85% of workers voted to unionize) follows other recent union victories in Philadelphia— including at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Philadelphia Museum of Art — as well as at other museums and cultural institutions around the country. . .

White-collar cultural workers have been organizing in droves over the last few years, mirroring the country’s growing support of unions, which currently sits at 68% — its highest point since 1965. While white-collar workers may not traditionally be seen as the face of unions, Shaun Richman, an author, academic and former union organizer, tells In These Times that these workers ​“feel like they were sold a bill of goods by going to college, racking up debt and then not getting rewarded with a fairly decent six figure job with decent benefits and basic respect.”