July updates
TL;DR
Share our email campaign to management with your communities!
Four colleagues called managements’ bluff to lay them off: they are still employed.
Solidarity break this Thursday, July 11th, 3pm at the Swamp; wear your shirt every Thursday
Important surveys to fill out
📰 Contract & Campaign Updates
Honoring Departed Staff ✨
Last month we lost ~40 staff members who took the VSP, and we know many said it didn’t feel “voluntary.” We recognize this is a huge loss for our institution and we are missing our cherished colleagues. Thank you to everyone who joined in honoring our co-workers by writing & posting stars in our collective art piece.
Moving Forward ➡️
We have yet to see management acknowledge the departure of our colleagues and present a strategic plan for how to move forward. We are hearing that remaining staff members are impacted with increased workloads, despite SLT’s insistence that eliminating programs would have minimal impact on workloads. We are working to understand the full extent of these changes. Has your workload and/or conditions changed due to staffing losses? Please let us know in this survey.
We’re also working on gathering and analyzing data on the VSP. If you took the VSP, or applied for the VSP and did not take it, please fill out this form. The information will help us understand the process, document potential labor violations, and aid in contract negotiations.
Successes 🙌
Despite this tumultuous time, we have some success to celebrate as well! We had great turnout for our Solidarity Break on June 25th and we even had some folks joining from the field! We are visually seeing our collective power grow. Will you join us this week for another demonstration of our strength and put pressure on management to bargain in good faith?
We’re aware youth activists also joined the solidarity break by distributing flyers they made on their own initiative, in support of our organizing efforts. While the flyers were not consistent with CAWU’s organizing strategy and our communication ethos, we stand in solidarity with the rights of youth activists to participate and speak in a manner authentic to them.
Another bright spot in the midst of all this: four of our CAWU members refused to take the VSP and called management on their bluff to lay them off on June 28th. Despite being threatened with illegal layoffs, they remain on payroll with their benefits while their positions are bargained over.
Lastly, we have new t-shirts!! Don’t they look great? Alanna in Creative Studio designed the new shirt, so give them some major props for this fresh design!
Public Campaign 📢
We’ve started an email campaign and published an OpEd in the San Francisco Standard. Our demands are clear: Poor financial stewardship of the Academy must not be compounded by cutting mission-critical programming. Academy executives must share the details of their budget, and then commit to negotiating solutions with our union in good faith.
If you attended the last union lunch, you heard research conducted by SEIU 1021 staff on Cal Academy’s finances that suggests that the Academy’s structural deficit is a result of rising debt service costs and questionable financial investments. We believe that transparency and accountability are vital for our workers and our institution. Help us put public pressure on SLT and the Board by sending and sharing our public campaign!
Bargaining Updates
There have not been any bargaining sessions since June 10th. Bargaining will resume on July 11.
🤝 Movement events & news
We’ve been following the worker experience of the Science Museum of Minnesota who won their union in January 2023 and faced layoffs in March. Sound familiar? Alison Rempel Brown, former Chief of Staff at the Academy, is now the President and CEO of SMM. You can support a fair contract for our SMM colleagues by signing this petition.
The story above highlights how the issues we face are common in our field and why connecting with other unionized museum workers can help us. Interested in learning more? You can connect with colleagues at the Asian Art Museum, Exploratorium, deYoung and other museums at the next SEIU 1021 Museum Workers Committee Meeting on Tuesday, July 9 from 6-7pm at 350 Rhode Island Street or virtually (the zoom link will be added to the calendar when available).
🐝 Actions to take right now
Join our email campaign and send it to your community!
Sign up for union membership if you haven’t yet! Encourage your colleagues to sign up and discuss why it matters.
Fill out our two active surveys or nudge someone to do so
Make our union visible!
Wear your CAWU shirt every THURSDAY (switching from Tuesday) until we have a contract.
Wear your CAWU button every day until we have a contract.
Make your Academy profile picture our union emblem until we have a contract. Get it here.
🐱 CAT can use your help!
Contract Action Team is an informal group of CAWU members (like you!) volunteering to keep staff connected with one another. Are you looking to get more involved? Have a specific skill set to offer? Email us or join us at the next meeting to learn more.
📅 Upcoming Events
July 9 (Tuesday) 8:00 - 9:30 AM
The new t-shirt has dropped! Stop by our tabling station on the way into the office to pick one up.
July 11 (Thursday) 3:00 PM Solidarity Break
At the Swamp
Wear your *new* t-shirt and show support for the Bargaining Team as they negotiate with management. Questions about Solidarity Breaks? Read our FAQ!
July 17 (Wednesday) 12:00 - 2:00 PM Bargaining Team Office Hours
L3 Breakroom/Balcony
What’s going on with contract negotiations? Something important to you that you’d like to see in our first contract? Bring any and all questions/ideas to office hours with a member from the Bargaining Team. Check our contract tracker to see what’s on the table.
July 23 (Tuesday) 12:00 - 1:45 PM All Unit Lunch
Moss Room
Grab pizza and our new t-shirts! Hear the latest updates about bargaining and contract advocacy actions and connect with your other union members.
July 31 (Wednesday) 12:00 - 2:00 PM Bargaining Team Office Hours
B1 Africa Breakroom
What’s going on with contract negotiations? Something important to you that you’d like to see in our first contract? Bring any and all questions/ideas to office hours. Check our contract tracker to see what’s on the table.
For more up to date event information, meeting times, and locations, check/subscribe to the Cal Academy Workers United Google Calendar.
Get in touch with our SEIU field rep
Hours, or working conditions changed without your agreement, or in need of representation for a disciplinary action? Our interim staff field representative is Claude Joseph Claude.Joseph@seiu1021.org.
