Obama Foundation and Presidential Center employees forming union with AFSCME

Employees of the Barack Obama Foundation and Presidential Center announced on Oct.7 that they’re organizing a union with AFSCME Council 31. 

The new union will represent more than 250 people who work in all aspects of Obama Foundation operations, including at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, at the foundation’s Washington DC offices, and throughout the country.

The announcement came in an open letter signed by 68 employees and sent to their co-workers.

“We are the workers who spend our days fulfilling the vision and values of the Obama Foundation,” they wrote. “We strongly believe in the mission to ‘inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world,’ and now we’d like to change ours.”

The letter continued: “Every day we come together across departments and across the country to bring President and Mrs. Obama’s vision to life. We have faced many challenges while doing the unprecedented work of realizing that vision” – citing heavy workloads, inadequate benefits, insufficient support from management, and high employee turnover.

“Together in our union, we can find solutions to these issues,” workers wrote. “We can advocate for a transparent and equitable workplace for everyone at the Obama Foundation, at every level.”

They cite President Obama’s 2016 Open Letter to America’s Hardworking Men and Women, in which he said, “If I were looking for a good job that lets me build some security for my family, I’d join a union. If I saw a problem in my workplace, I’d organize my coworkers to do something about it.” 

The organizing campaign continues a growing trend of museum and other cultural workers forming unions with AFSCME in Chicago. Since 2021, nearly 3,000 employees of the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Science & Industry, Field Museum and several other Chicago-area cultural institutions have formed new AFSCME locals and won first union contracts that raise wages, protect and expand benefits and give workers a voice in the decisions that affect them. Through its Cultural Workers United campaign, AFSCME is the nation’s leading union of museum and other cultural employees.

“These employees are the heart of the Obama Foundation. Every day they do the work that makes the new Presidential Center such a remarkable addition to our city,” AFSCME Council 31 executive director Roberta Lynch said. “Together in our union, they can ensure that the Foundation and Presidential Center are every bit as good a place to work as the Center is to visit.”

Employees are signing union authorization cards for the purpose of seeking voluntary recognition from foundation management.