Union petitions Art Institute of Chicago to reverse custodial outsourcing

A union representing workers at the Art Institute of Chicago is collecting public signatures on a petition demanding the museum abandon its plan to terminate custodial staff and outsource the work to a private, for-profit contractor next month.

The petition, circulated by Art Institute of Chicago Workers United and last updated July 9, addresses museum leadership directly. It asks management to stop finalizing the subcontracting plan until it bargains the effects with the union.

"Give our custodians their jobs back," the petition reads.

Custodians learned June 29 that leadership decided to eliminate their positions on August 14 and transfer their jobs to an outside company, according to the petition. It says the affected workers include 23 members of AFSCME Local 37, the Art Institute of Chicago Workers United museum employees' bargaining unit, several of whom have worked at the institution for more than two decades.

The petition says the move would cut benefits, erase accrued paid time off and end seniority privileges for the custodial team. The workers would also lose access to tuition remission and tuition exchange programs, free admission to Chicago museums and eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

AFSCME has filed an information request and a grievance over the timing of the decision, which the petition calls a contract violation. The union's central demand is to bargain the effects of the decision with management.

The museum said the custodians will be able to apply for jobs with the incoming contractor. It told Hyperallergic it chose a partner committed to offering employment to the custodial staff and described the shift to a contractor model as a way to support daily operations.

The museum disputes that it broke its union contract. It told the Chicago Sun-Times it operated within the terms of the agreement and prioritized a partner offering pay equal to or above current wages.

Vicente Robinson, an executive board member of Art Institute of Chicago Workers United, told the Sun-Times that “there's a lot of distrust and despair.”

"A lot of the sentiment shared by members of the community is that this feels very blatantly like a move to pull members out of our bargaining unit and to wither away at our union that was hard-fought and hard-won by all of our employees, including our custodial staff," said Robinson, who is not on the custodial team.

Two unfair labor practice cases involving the institution and its union are open before the National Labor Relations Board's Region 13, though both predate the June 29 outsourcing decision and concern separate matters, records show.

AFSCME Council 31 filed a charge against the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on April 25, 2025, alleging an unlawful change to terms and conditions of employment under the National Labor Relations Act, records show. The case remains open.

An individual filed a charge against Art Institute of Chicago Workers United on May 18, 2026, alleging the union breached its duty of fair representation, including claims of superseniority and denial of access, records show. The case also remains open. The museum is listed as an involved party.

A post linking the petition drew more than 1,100 upvotes and 124 comments on the r/chicago forum. It was reposted to r/MuseumPros, where commenters split over whether the petition or the union could stop the outsourcing.

"Museums these days are institutions for the protection and projection of the worldview of their rich patrons," one commenter wrote.

Another questioned the point of the petition. "The union can advocate for the workers and sue the organization," the commenter wrote. "Beyond that, it's just bad press for the museum and there's no point sharing it."

A reply pushed back. "Creating bad press for the museum is one of the best weapons a union has," the commenter wrote.

The petition remains open to museum and School of the Art Institute staff, museum members and the public. It asks management to meet the union at the bargaining table.

Follow along with other union matters at Urgent Matter's labor tracker.