Unionization efforts at the 170-year-old California Academy of Sciences have hit a snag, with management refusing to voluntarily recognize the union, according to the union’s leadership.
This will force the union to campaign and win an election from the majority of the museum’s 500 workers.
In an email received by the CalAcademy Workers United leadership Monday, the museum’s senior management also rejected the union’s request for “non-interference and neutrality” in the union’s campaign, which means managers can attempt to sway workers against the union.
This development means a hard-fought campaign will now take place, the organizers said.
“It’s basically an undemocratic move to force us to an election,” said Marie Angel, a Cal Academy employee and organizing committee member of the union. Workers with CalAcademy Workers United have spent the last month organizing their colleagues and gathering as many signatures on union authorization cards as possible, hoping management would recognize the union without an election. “We believe that if you sign a card, that is a voice that is someone supportive of the union,” Angel said.
The non-interference terms, said Victoria Langlands, another organizing committee member, were meant to protect workers from possible intimidation and pressure from their bosses. “I think it’s very, very frustrating to know that they’re reserving that as a possibility moving forward,” Langlands said, referring to anti-union communiques from management or so-called “captive audience meetings,” whereby workers are made to sit through presentations that urge them to vote against unionization.
In fact, that interference is already happening, according to workers.
At the academy’s annual Big Bang science gala on April 27, some workers were told to remove their pro-union buttons, an activity protected by the National Labor Relations Act.
The academy’s management, in a statement, said they regretted the incident, but did not respond to questions about their choice not to recognize the union.
“The Academy fully respects staff’s rights to express their support for the union through wearing pins, hanging posters, and tabling. We were surprised to learn about this single isolated incident at the Gala that was an unfortunate miscommunication from one manager to a group of staff about wearing uniforms at a formal evening event. We are pro-staff, and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure we are following the law and respecting our employees’ rights.”
The would-be union, which is expected to represent some 500 scientists, educators and floor staff at the Cal Academy, went public in late March after months of underground efforts and will, if successful, be affiliated with Service Employees International Union Local 1021.
The union organizing committee does not have a specific timeline for the election, which would be conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
Management across the country often tries forcing unionization campaigns into official elections, as it buys them time to persuade workers, especially those on the fence, not to sign authorization cards and to vote against the union in the upcoming election, according to Jennie Smith-Camejo, communications lead of SEIU 1021.
The organizing committee said the union campaign has garnered “very strong support” among workers, and they plan to host more weekly lunches in front of the academy to campaign and collect more signatures.