Contract negotiations:

• The negotiation team for the new members (the group we are calling the Landslide Unit) has met with the museum management team twice so far. We began with a straightforward and efficient proposal that includes our “non-economic” proposals. We asked the museum to add the Landslide Unit to the Local 1559 contract, thus extending all the basic union rights provided in that contract. That includes essentials like the recognition of the union, a grievance procedure, and overtime. We thought this was very reasonable, since the museum has already agreed to these rights for Local 1559. (We have not yet gotten to our major “economic” proposals—things like salaries and raises.) 

• They did not say no to our proposal to add the Landslide Unit to the Local 1559 contract, but they also did not say yes. Instead, they are giving us separate proposals for each major clause in the contract. These proposed clauses are, in some cases, very different and less robust than those in the 1559 contract. They also asked us to reformat our proposals for the next bargaining session so that they can be better understood. Needless to say, this slows down the bargaining process.

• Local 1559 contract negotiations will begin in January.

Contested titles update:

• The museum contested the inclusion of the graduate students as a title in the union and refuses to negotiate with us about this. We will have to petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to resolve the issue. This will not be a speedy process.

• Our Negotiator and Attorney have had one meeting with the museum about the other contested titles. Additional information was requested and we were unable to come to an agreement on any of these titles.  There will be a follow up meeting in January.