Chicago History Museum workers ratify first union contract

Chicago History Museum workers have ratified their first-ever union contract, with 96% of voting members voting Yes to approve an agreement that delivers raises, stronger benefits and new protections on the job.

The agreement raises the wage floor to a $20-an-hour minimum and delivers across-the-board pay increases of 3% a year, plus a $500 ratification bonus, longevity payments and bilingual pay for employees who use second language skills on the job.

Their contract also expands paid leave for every employee, covering holidays, sick leave and vacation time. Workers locked in their existing health insurance with no increase in cost and won a stronger retirement plan.

For the first time, CHM workers also have a fair grievance and arbitration procedure to resolve problems on the job, along with quarterly labor-management meetings where the union and museum leadership can address issues as they come up.

The contract is a victorious end to a hard-fought two-year campaign. CHM employees announced their organizing drive in February 2025 and voted overwhelmingly to join AFSCME that April.

Museum management at the time responded by firing four union activists and disciplining seven more in an illegal anti-union campaign. AFSCME filed unfair labor practice charges, and the National Labor Relations Board found the museum had broken the law. Last month, the union won a settlement requiring the museum to expunge the discipline and reinstate the wrongfully terminated workers with back pay.

The two leaders of the museum’s illegal anti-union campaign, CEO Donald Lassere and HR Director Shatierra Parks, no longer work at the museum.

With that fight behind them and new museum leadership in place, CHM workers turned their focus to the bargaining table — and came away with a contract that reflects the strength they built by sticking together from the very first organizing conversations through their first ratification vote.

The bargaining committee included Alice Matthews, Brigid Crawley, Marissa Croft, Nio Lozinski, Josh Sundermeyer and Max Lewontin. The committee was led by Council 31 Staff Representative Erik Thorson.