Photo caption: National Public Housing Museum staff members Mark Jaeschke and Liú Méi-Zhì Chen present the staff’s letter to management, along with IAM Midwest Territory Grand Lodge Representative Chris Tucker and IAM Associate Organizer Brian Ilic. (Photo: Alex Orfirer Maher)
CHICAGO, Feb. 22, 2023 – A majority of staff at the National Public Housing Museum (NPHM) in Chicago have announced their intent to form the National Public Housing Workers United union, with assistance from the 600,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), and are seeking voluntary recognition of their union from museum management.
“Though we have the votes to easily win a union election, we would rather expedite the process towards recognition and not distract from the important work that we are all doing at the National Public Housing Museum,” museum employees wrote in a letter to the museum’s executive director.
Museum staff are seeking to achieve a stable and sustainable work environment and a collective bargaining agreement that ensures accountability, communication and transparency.
“We have each chosen to work at NPHM in large part because we share the values of this institution—values of solidarity, radical care, community power, and the galvanizing potential of arts and culture,” reads the letter. “We believe that in order to uphold and enact these values, we all need to be accountable to each other: to push each other, to support each other, and to invest in each other.”
“Just as we are deeply excited by this inclusive future for the museum and its workers, we are equally excited to be represented by IAMAW,” the letter continues. “As we’ve collaborated with IAMAW, we’ve been impressed and inspired by their commitment to transparency and democratic processes as demonstrated by their fiscal transparency, inclusionary and accessible voting systems, and encouraged member participation at all levels.”
The National Public Housing Museum is the only cultural institution devoted to telling the story of public housing in the United States. Its mission is to preserve, promote, and propel the right of all people to a place where they can live and prosper, a place to call home, according to the museum’s website.
“We are eager to come to the bargaining table and work collectively with you to build a stronger, more equitable, more sustainable, and more united NPHM,” the museum workers conclude in the letter to management.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries.
The IAM Midwest Territory is welcoming longtime IAM leader Rick Mickschl as its Chief of Staff, and bidding farewell to LaToya Egwuekwe-Smith, who has served admirably in the role since July 2020. Both moves are effective March 1, 2023.
Mickschl, the most senior Grand Lodge Representative on the Midwest Territory’s staff, brings a wealth of negotiations, servicing and organizing knowledge to his new role as Chief of Staff.
Before joining the Midwest Territory staff in 2012, Mickschl had served as Directing Business Representative of IAM District 66 in La Crosse, WI since 2005.
His union experience also includes serving as a Local Lodge Steward, Job Rating Committee Chairman, Local Lodge President and District Delegate.
Mickschl, a second-generation member of IAM Local 21, initiated into the IAM in 1980 as a machinist and millwright. He has also served over 15 years as a labor representative on the Workforce Connections Board of Directors of Western Wisconsin and as a board member of the Great Rivers United Way. In 2021, Mickschl graduated from the State University of New York – Empire State College with a bachelor of science degree in labor studies.
“Rick has the lived experience that prepares him to handle any situation on behalf of our members in the Midwest Territory,” said IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Steve Galloway. “Rick is ready for this increased role and I know that our staff, officers and members will benefit from his leadership.”
Egwuekwe-Smith leaves the IAM after nearly 15 years of exemplary service to the IAM in a variety of high-level roles.
Since 2016, Egwuekwe-Smith has served as Communications Representative and then Chief of Staff in the Midwest Territory. Before that, she had served at IAM Headquarters as a Communications Representative since 2008.
During her time at the IAM, Egwuekwe-Smith became known as a thoughtful, passionate and skilled leader. She developed and implemented cutting edge programs for contract negotiations, organizing and political communications.
Her work, including an animated map that showed the progression of U.S. unemployment during the Great Recession, was featured in major news outlets, including CNN, ABC, CBS, MSNBC and Huff Post.
Egwuekwe-Smith is a former Vice President of the International Labor Communications Association (ILCA) Executive Council and was a Fellow of the Washington, DC chapter of the New Leaders Council.
“LaToya’s contributions to the Midwest Territory and the IAM are immeasurable and will carry on for years to come,” said Galloway. “She has been a vital partner to myself and the entire Midwest Territory in some of our union’s most critical times. We wish LaToya and her family all the best in their next chapter.”
IAM District 19 and the IAM Rail Division have reached an agreement with CSX that provides paid sick leave for the approximately 700 IAM District 19 Mechanical Employees at the freight rail carrier.
The agreement provides for four paid sick days annually and the ability to convert up to an additional three personal days into sick days, for a total of seven potential paid sick days. Unused paid sick time will be contributed to the employees’ 401(k) account, or can be paid out at the end of each calendar year.
“Our freight rail members have stood strong for so long in order to achieve this victory,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “We’re going to continue to wage this battle across the industry to win this critical benefit for all freight rail workers.”
IAM District 19 continues to pursue paid sick leave for all freight rail workers.
“Our strength and solidarity have made the case to the carriers, policymakers, and the general public that we deserve paid sick leave,” said Josh Hartford, IAM Special Assistant to the International President for the IAM Rail Division. “We are now seeing the results of years of advocacy by our union and many others on this critical issue.”
“This is going to make a huge difference in the lives of IAM District 19 Mechanical Employees at CSX,” said IAM District 19 Assistant Directing General Chair Andrew Sandberg. “Our members will be able to rest easier at night knowing their union has won this for themselves and their families.”
IAM Special Assistant to the International President for the Rail Division Josh Hartford and TCU/IAM Assistant National Legislative Director David Arouca, along with representatives from other major rail unions, joined U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Mike Braun (R-IN) for a press conference on Capitol Hill demanding paid sick time from rail companies for all rail workers.
“We are here to send a strong message to the CEOs in the rail industry,” said Sanders. “The American people are sick and tired of the type of corporate greed we are seeing in that industry… That industry can and must guarantee at least seven paid sick days for every rail worker in America.”
The press conference comes as rail companies announced record-breaking earnings during quarterly earnings reports and spent more on returns to the companies’ shareholders than what they spent on improving their workers’ wages and benefits.
“If you want to make life easy in the long run, make sure you take care of your employees,” said Braun. “You should not have to scrap for sick days the way we all know it.”
The press conference included the participation of SMART-TD, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department and the National Association of Chemical Distributors.
“We applaud Sen. Sanders and Sen. Braun for their steadfast commitment advocating for our members and all rail workers,” said Hartford. “Paid sick time is common sense and not a partisan issue. Rail workers shouldn’t have to choose between their jobs and their health, and our union welcomes any legislative efforts that will address rail workers’ needs.”
Prior to the press conference, Senator Sanders sent a letter to the rail companies’ CEOs requesting that they guarantee at least seven paid sick days for their employees.
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