The Art Institute of Chicago to Cut Its Entire Custodial Staff
The museum's union called the plan to outsource in-house custodial work to a third-party vendor a "devastating and unconscionable injustice."
The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) plans to eliminate its entire in-house custodial workforce in August, according to the institution and the union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 (AFSCME Council 31).
Up to 25 of the museum's custodians — including 23 unionized workers — would lose their current jobs as part of the museum's plan to outsource its custodial work to a private, third-party vendor. The affected workers are responsible for cleaning the institution's galleries and facilities. Some of them have worked at the AIC for decades.
The AIC Workers United, the institution's umbrella union organization, called the plan a "devastating and unconscionable injustice" that violated union agreements in a circulating petition. The group said if the plan succeeds, staff who "carry out indispensable, difficult work for the institution" would experience a detrimental loss of essential employee benefits.
Union workers are planning to rally in support of the custodians on Wednesday, July 22. The change would take effect on August 14, the union said.
A spokesperson for the AIC confirmed to Hyperallergic that the museum plans to outsource its custodial workforce to GDI Integrated Facility Services, a private contractor based in Canada. Each affected custodian, the museum said, would have the opportunity "to join [its] custodial partner after completing their employment screening process."
"The Art Institute deeply values our employees, and we are grateful for the important work our custodial team does every day," the spokesperson continued. "We made the decision to shift our custodial services to a contractor model to better support daily museum operations, and we prioritized choosing a partner that would commit to offering employment to our custodial staff."
The move follows layoffs at the institute's private art school last November, when the School of the Art Institute laid off 20 workers and shuttered its beloved Video Data Bank, citing a decline in enrollment.
The museum denies that it violated any union contract terms. However, AFSCME Council 31 spokesperson Ben Conboy told Hyperallergic that union lawyers have filed a grievance with the museum for allegedly not providing appropriate notice to staff about the decision, and have "demanded to bargain" over the decision.
An AIC custodial staff member who spoke to Hyperallergic on the condition of anonymity, fearing that speaking to the media could affect their employment status, said they felt "betrayed" by the institution's decision.
The staff member said the custodians were first notified of the institution's plan on June 29 in a meeting attended by representatives of GDI.
"Going to that museum is my passion," the custodial worker said in a phone call. "And [then] just being told that you're no longer gonna be an AIC employee and you'll be transferred to a new company broke my heart."
The custodial worker said their current hourly pay is $18, which is $0.95 above Chicago's minimum wage. A spokesperson for the museum said that they could not confirm the final wages that GDI would offer the staff, but stated that it would not be less than their current pay.
While the staff member is considering AIC's offer to apply to GDI — mostly out of fear that it would be difficult for them to find another job in the current economy — they said they would be seriously impacted by losing their AIC-specific benefits.
According to Conboy, custodial staff would lose accrued paid time off, tuition remission benefits, and eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness — which is contingent on working for a public institution — as a result of the change. A spokesperson for AIC said that free access to the institute would continue for the workers who decided to join GDI, and that "discussions about extending other additional, Art Institute-specific benefits are underway."
The anonymous staff member told Hyperallergic that "most" of their coworkers were not considering working for GDI.
"Our union's position is that management should abandon this effort," Conboy said. "It is the wrong move for visitors and guests, and it is certainly the wrong move for its custodians who give so much ... whose work contributes so much to making the museum what it is."
When asked if the institution would ratify its plan despite recent opposition, an AIC spokesperson affirmed it would move forward.
"I also want to speak for my coworkers who've been there for 20-plus years, giving their all to this company," the AIC custodial worker told Hyperallergic. "A few of them were supposed to retire within a year or two, and then out of nowhere this happens."
