We are the educators, facilitators and costumed interpreters at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. We lead tours of the tenement, educate visitors about the vibrant immigrant and labor history of the Lower East Side, and portray the historical figures who once lived in the tenement.

We are the heart of the Museum, yet we work on a per-diem basis with no guaranteed hours and no benefits. We do not receive regular raises, even to keep up with the cost of living. We have decided to form a union with Local 2110 of the UAW in order to bargain with the Museum management over these and other issues.

On May 2, 2007 we delivered a letter to Ruth Abram, President of the Museum, requesting that the Tenement Museum recognize our union, and that they allow us to demonstrate our majority support through a count of our signed union membership cards. This method of forming a union, called a "card count," has been used successfully in many workplaces, and is currently the subject of federal legislation with broad bipartisan support.

Unfortunately, the Museum has indicated that they intend to challenge our right to a union by forcing us into hearings at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Under President Bush, the NLRB has taken organizing rights away from tens of thousands of workers, and has gone out of its way to reverse precedents set by previous administrations that were more labor-friendly.

We are determined to win our union and make the Tenement Museum a better place to work through collective bargaining. You can help by clicking here to send an email to Museum management!

The committee celebrates our majority support, May 2, 2007