Employees at the Penn Museum have unanimously authorized a strike, demanding higher salaries and claiming the university has dragged its feet in contract negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The union group, which is part of the same labor federation as the city’s\u00a0municipal workers who are currently on strike,<\/a> saw its contract expire at the end of June and has threatened action as early as Wednesday if terms are not met.\u00a0<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0<\/b>Philly’s history of city worker strikes included Molotov cocktails, suburban weddings and 45,000 tons of garbage<\/a><\/p>\n Penn Museum Workers United Local 397 chapter includes around 50 workers from various departments in the museum, including visitor services, academic engagement, object conservation, financial services and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n “This strike authorization paves the way for Penn workers to join the 10,000 [AFSCME District 33] workers currently on strike in Philadelphia,”\u00a0the group posted last week on\u00a0social media<\/a>.\u00a0“…\u00a0The working people of Philadelphia deserve more than the crumbs Mayor (Cherelle)\u00a0Parker and Penn are putting on the table.”\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n The group is calling for the largest private employer in the city to increase wages.\u00a0The average salaries in their bargaining unit is less than $45,000 per year, according to\u00a0lead union negotiator\u00a0Sarah Shaw and Local 397 President\u00a0Halcyone Schiller.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The most important terms we’re negotiating for in a fair contract are annual raises that, at a minimum, allow our members to keep up with the cost of living, an adjustment to the lowest-paid jobs that brings them closer to a living wage and increases over time to reward years of service to the museum,” the representatives said in a joint statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Contract negotiations started in the beginning of June.\u00a0Representatives with Penn Museum did not respond to a request for comment, and a University of Pennsylvania spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n “This has been particularly frustrating in economic negotiations, most of which has been taking place post-contract expiration,” Shaw and Schiller said. “… They’re moving so slowly. … If we have six hours scheduled, maybe 30 minutes of that time is spent actually negotiating.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Negotiations are scheduled to pick back up Tuesday, and the union representatives said they are planning an action for 5 p.m. Wednesday if there’s little progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n