About 50 Detroit Historical Society workers are pushing for union representation, bringing a fresh labor campaign to one of the city’s major cultural institutions just months after Detroit Institute of Arts employees won recognition. The organizing effort could give museum staff a formal voice over workplace issues while adding another chapter to Detroit’s long labor history.
The effort surfaced in a filing with the National Labor Relations Board last Friday, which lists 50 workers at the Detroit Historical Society as petitioning for a representation election. Crain’s Detroit reported that the campaign follows the DIA’s successful organizing drive and is seeking representation through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
The workers are part of the organization that operates the Detroit Historical Museum and Dossin Great Lakes Museum and oversees a collection of more than 250,000 artifacts, according to the Detroit Historical Society. AFSCME also lists the Society among the cultural institutions where it represents museum workers, describing organizing around pay, scheduling and workplace conditions as a central part of its museum-sector work.
DIA’s Union Win Set The Local Backdrop
The timing is hard to miss. On February 27, the DIA and AFSCME announced that a neutral third party had determined a majority of employees in a new bargaining unit wanted union representation, bringing more than 200 museum workers into the AFSCME fold, according to a joint DIA statement.
Another Detroit cultural institution also scored a union victory in May, when Michigan Science Center workers voted overwhelmingly to join the United Auto Workers. The AFL-CIO said guest-relations workers and educators cited scheduling problems, management conduct and a lack of voice at work as reasons for organizing.
What Happens Next
The Historical Society filing does not mean a union has already been certified. Under NLRB procedures, the agency reviews a representation petition and directs an election if the legal requirements are met; a majority of votes cast determines the result.
The board generally requires a showing of support from at least 30% of the proposed bargaining unit before an election can proceed. The NLRB docket identifies the case as 07-RC-391058, but no election date was listed in the materials reviewed.
