rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/support-for-striking-pma-workers-fair-contract-now?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-support-for-striking-pma-workers-fair-contract-now' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> AFSCME District Council 47 https://actionnetwork.org/groups/afscmedc47 https://actionnetwork.org//images/generic_facebook.jpg The PMA Union is calling on supporters to write to PMA management demanding a return to negotiations and a fair contract NOW. Unionized workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are making history. The employees who perform the most essential work of the museum—greeting visitors, caring for the collection, installing exhibitions, educating children, raising money—have been on strike since September 26. They are withholding their essential labor and sacrificing pay to take a stand for improved wages and benefits and against the relentless union-busting that led to the union’s filing of an Unfair Labor Practice charge in September. This is the first multi-day strike of a wall-to-wall museum union in recent memory. Management of the PMA is making history for another reason. While workers march outside in the cold, wind, and rain, management refuses to meet the union for negotiations that could end the strike TODAY. This is shameful. And the intent is obvious. The only tactic they have left is to try and break workers' strength and solidarity. Why are PMA workers willing to endure weeks of strike conditions? National survey data from the Association of Art Museum Directors and the PMA's own financial disclosure forms reveal some enlightening facts about pay at the PMA. While executive positions are compensated at rates close to 50% more than the executive positions at other art museums, unionized staff make on average about 30% less than staff doing comparable jobs at other museums. 50% higher vs. 30% lower. On top of that, most PMA workers haven't received a raise in more than 3 years. Nevertheless, management continues to reject reasonable pay proposals that would help to correct these imbalances. Management also continues to reject workers' appeals for more affordable health insurance. Currently, 89% of the bargaining unit is on a high deductible health plan with a 10% coinsurance for non-preventative care even after the deductible is met. 89% of workers make this choice because it's the only plan offered by the PMA with monthly payments they can afford. The PMA's HMO plan costs employees almost $300 a month. That means that workers, the majority of whom make less than $50,000 per year, have to choose between paying $300 a month for the HMO or gambling with the high deductible plan and potentially being on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical fees. It's no surprise that most PMA employees end up taking a chance with the high deductible plan. PMA management refuses to entertain the union's proposals to reduce the cost of their health insurance. To sum up, PMA management is refusing to negotiate over this short list of reasonable proposals: -Raise minimum pay to $16.75 per hour. -Increase across-the-board raises to account for low pay, years of stagnation, and high inflation. -Make initial raises retroactive to July 1, when other PMA employees received a raise. -Institute longevity raises for every 5 years of service to the museum. -Decrease the cost of health insurance. These are not outrageous demands, especially for an institution that can afford to pay its Director and CEO upwards of $700,000 per year. And have the striking workers seen the new Director, Sasha Suda? Not once. But it’s clearly not about money anyway. The museum’s own legal counsel has admitted that the union’s and managements’ current economic positions are separated by less than $1,000,000 over 3 contract years, or about $300,000 per year. This is a museum with a $600 million endowment, whose board had no trouble greenlighting a $233 million building expansion. And PMA Board Chair Leslie Anne Miller has personally donated at least $5,000,000 to the museum over the last 5 years. Your letter to PMA management can make a difference! Please write to Director and CEO Sasha Suda, COO Bill Petersen, and Board Chair Leslie Anne Miller TODAY. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/support-for-striking-pma-workers-fair-contract-now