Posts tagged Shedd Aquarium
Workers at more Chicago cultural venues are unionizing, even during a precarious moment for museums
December 12, 2025 // Still, the process of unionization may not be smooth at every site. At Chicago Botanic Garden, there’s a disagreement between workers and management with what steps should be required to establish a union. Employees who are advocating for better pay, health care and safety on the job and are represented by CMRJB Workers United say they are asking employees to sign union cards. However, Chicago Botanic Garden leadership opposes that approach in favor of a secret ballot election to vote on the union. “To skip that step would really be disenfranchising those eligible employees,” Chicago Botanic Garden President and CEO Jean Franczyk told the Chicago Sun-Times. “The process has multiple steps and options that you can pursue. But the one that we think protects individual eligible workers’ rights is that supervised election.”
Met Museum Workers Move to Unionize
November 20, 2025 // On Monday morning, a labor union petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to approve a bargaining unit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that would cover roughly 1,000 salaried and hourly workers across the museum’s sectors. If the vote passes, the Met would rank among the largest unionized museums in the nation.
Workers at Shedd Aquarium vote to unionize
November 5, 2024 // When certified, Shedd Workers United/AFSCME will represent about 180 employees including guest relations, learning and community, development, and others, organizers said. Workers at other institutions in the city such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Newberry Library have also formed unions in recent years.