A passage from a 2016 campaign letter by Barack Obama now sits at the heart of a labor campaign inside his own presidential center.
“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.”
Employees at the Chicago facility reproduced those lines in an open letter this week.
The document announces plans to form a union called Obama Workers United. Sixty-eight staff members signed it, and the Chicago Sun-Times first reported its contents.
The group intends to organize under the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, or AFSCME 31. If successful, the union would cover more than 250 workers.
They include staff on the Chicago campus, employees in the Obama Foundation’s Washington, D.C., offices and remote workers scattered around the country.
Anders Lindall, director of public affairs for AFSCME 31, said the organizing committee is already circulating union cards and pressing colleagues to join. “Generally everybody wants a voice,” he said this week.
“That extends to compensation and conditions in the workplace and more,” Lindall added.
The letter points to rising workloads and rolled-back benefits as the driving forces.
Workers say leadership recently informed them that healthcare costs would climb, promotions were suspended and paid time off was reduced.
They say they also learned that no pay increases are coming this winter.
According to the letter, staff raised those concerns with management and received “vague responses.”
The authors also describe a staffing problem.
They cite a “high turnover rate” and write that many more employees are “continuing to leave (and) taking with them their institutional knowledge and expertise.”
Luke Gilday, an Obama Foundation employee who sits on the union organizing committee, told the Sun-Times that employees feel shut out of key choices.
He said they “don’t even have a seat at the table.”
“What we’re hoping for, and really the reason why we’re forming our union, is just because we believe we should have a say in the decisions that are being made that impact all of our lives,” Gilday said.
Organizers began handing out materials outside the center this week. Gilday said he joined the effort without a deadline for winning a contract from the foundation.
He also addressed the group’s intentions toward the institution. Gilday said the workers do not want to sink the foundation or its mission, and that they “care deeply about” making it a success.
“Mr. and Mrs. Obama’s legacy is one of hope. It’s one of fairness, and it’s one of transparency… by forming our union, all we’re doing is living out that legacy,” he said.
The Obama Foundation answered the reports with a statement to the Daily Mail.
A spokesperson said: “At The Obama Foundation, we know that every single achievement – from our global programming to bringing the Obama Presidential Center to life on the South Side – is made possible by the dedication, care, and hard work of our extraordinary team.”
“We are deeply committed to the fundamental right of workers to organize and make their voices heard.”
The spokesperson continued: “As members of our staff explore union representation, we approach this process with immense gratitude for their contributions, deep respect for unions, and a sincere commitment to working collaboratively with our partners in labor.”
The campaign comes just months after the center welcomed its first public visitors in June. Construction costs topped $850 million, nearly triple the original $300 million budget.
Days before the grand opening, contractors alleged they had not received payment for their work on the building.
Several subcontractors said they were owed millions of dollars in past-due invoices.
Omar Shareef, president of the African American Contractors Association, said several workers told him they “wished they had never done (the project).”
Critics also took aim at the building’s appearance when it debuted, with some applying the nickname “death star” to its design.
