Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago workers ratify first union contract

Employees of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago won major improvements to wages and retirement plans, their first-ever parental leave policy and more in their first union contract. 

MCA employees first announced their intention to form a union with AFSCME Council 31 in February 2024. Management voluntarily recognized the union a month later. Contract negotiations began in September 2024 and resulted in a tentative agreement on March 18 this year. AFSCME-represented employees include 72 staff members across the museum’s artistic and operations divisions.

The workers came out of their organizing phase strong but knew they had to keep the momentum up. 

“We had to keep pushing, keep leaning on each other for support,” said Biz Knapp, a member of the bargaining committee and a sales supervisor at the museum. 

They made sure their union was visible to management, planning t-shirt days every Tuesday for the duration of negotiations.

The four-year agreement raises wages by 12% across the board, with a 3% increase retroactive to July 1, 2025. All bargaining-unit members will receive a ratification bonus and bilingual pay.

Union members also won four weeks of paid parental leave, an improved retirement plan, the maintenance of current health insurance cost-sharing ratios, and the establishment of a grievance and arbitration process that will ensure workplace issues are solved fairly and equitably.

Union members decisively approved the agreement on March 26 with 98% of votes cast in support of ratification. 

“We buckled down and didn’t leave anything on the table,” Knapp said. “We’re really proud of the work we were able to do. The museum is abuzz with excitement right now.”

The bargaining committee led by Council 31 Staff Representative Matthew Lange included Knapp, Sylvia Schutes, Ralph Loza and Erica Erdman.