(CHICAGO, ILLINOIS) – Staff at the Barack Obama Foundation and Presidential Center in Chicago have announced they are organizing to join American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31. “We are the Workers who spend our days fulfilling the vision and values of the Obama Foundation,” 68 Members of the Staff wrote in a letter announcing the organizing effort. “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 Union did not have numbers on how many Employees have left since the Center opened in June, but it represents Workers across a wide range of roles - from Museum Greeters and Ticket-Takers to Behind-the-Scenes Staff who put together exhibits or work in development, Communications and Marketing. Obama Workers United will represent more than 250 Workers across the Presidential Center Campus in Chicago, at the Obama Foundation’s Offices in Washington, D.C., and remote Workers around the U.S. Addressed to Colleagues, the letter invites Employees to sign their Union Cards to push for senior leadership to recognize the group’s right to organize “and not waste resources on Anti-Union messaging, Anti-Union lawyers or Anti-Union meetings.” “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.” 

For More On This Organizing Labor News Story, Go To: Obama Foundation and Presidential Center workers to unionize: ‘We don't even have a seat at the table’ - WBEZ Chicago

Photo Courtesy Of The Obama Foundation’s Facebook Page.