Science Museum workers appeal to public as cuts threaten programs, access

August 21, 2025 by

Paleontologist Nicole Dzenowski says the Science Museum backtracked after eliminating her position in violation of her union contract.

Nicole Dzenowski, a paleontologist with the Science Museum of Minnesota, was on a field expedition in Montana when she received the news that her position managing Minnesota’s only active fossil-preparation lab was being eliminated.

In a virtual staff meeting that followed, Dzenowski learned her lab, which maintains a collection of hundreds of thousands of fossils, would remain open with support from volunteers – in direct violation of the newly negotiated contract covering over 200 Science Museum workers, members of AFSCME Council 5.

Within weeks, management had offered Dzenowski the position back on a part-time basis, but she and other union members say that her experience epitomizes the museum’s indifference to frontline workers and their union contract – and to the organization’s mission – as it plows ahead with a plan to eliminate 43 full-time positions.

“I am grateful that I will, in part, get to keep my job,” Dzenowski said. “I am grateful that the scientifically significant fossils that our collection houses will get taken care of…

“I can be grateful for all of those things while also still recognizing that the way these layoffs have unfolded does not feel like management has followed our contract and considered any alternatives to these layoffs – let alone any and all.”

Dzenowski and other Science Museum workers – some impacted by the layoffs, some not – laid bare their frustration with the process and their concerns about the institution’s future during a press conference July 29 outside the museum’s Kellogg Boulevard entrance.

Museum management announced plans to shrink its operating budget from $38 million to $31 million July 9, pointing to “fundamental shifts in consumer behavior following the pandemic” that have resulted in lower attendance at museum’s across the U.S. The Science Museum also saw federal grant funding pulled back by the Trump administration earlier this year.

But rather than taking a collaborative approach to navigating the new industry landscape, Science Museum union members said, management has shut them out of the planning process.

“We wouldn’t be here today if Science Museum management wasn’t too afraid to actually listen to their workers, who have brought forward ideas of building a better Science Museum but have been ignored,” Council 5 Director Bart Andersen said.

Decisions behind closed doors

Workers’ requests for information about how leadership arrived at decisions, like eliminating programs or consolidating departments, have gone mostly unanswered.

Sheridan Small, a program specialist, questioned the museum’s plans to discontinue camps – her area of focus – after this season. Small, who accepted the year-round position last March and will be laid off effective Aug. 22, said the move will eliminate a program that brings families – and revenue – to the museum.

“This is one of the museum’s strongest membership drivers,” she said. “Families join to get early access and discounts (on camp registration). Even with the materials and staffing costs, this program pays for itself. It doesn’t drain resources, it generates them.”

Jennings Mergenthal questions the organization’s decision to eliminate every position dedicated to its access and equity program.

Small isn’t the only one struggling to understand management’s reasoning. Grace Richter, who works on the museum floor, said union members in her department have asked how this round of layoffs will be different from last year’s, which eventually forced management to address staffing shortages.

“They have refused to be transparent with my team or grant information requests from the union, and have not engaged in any dialogue,” she said.

“In the 2023-24 fiscal year, our CEO Alison Brown made $572,000 – a huge jump from the previous year,” Richter added. “If our leaders are going to make that much money while I barely make $35,000 a year, shouldn’t they be able to provide us with a bare minimum of transparency on why crucial museum staff are losing their jobs?”

Betrayal of values

Other workers worried the layoffs signal the Science Museum is walking away from its commitment to inclusion and community access.

Ashley Hausch said her entire department dedicated to evaluation and research will be eliminated, and so will the museum’s ability to track visitors by zip code – a critical piece of determining how diverse the museum’s visitor population is.

Jennings Mergenthal, a community engagement specialist, said his department, which seeks to build relevant connections between community members and the museum’s offerings, had been eliminated, too. The move, he said, will increase the distance between museum leaders and the communities the Science Museum claims to serve.

“If the museum wants to act like a business, it should be honest about that,” Mergenthal added. “But if it wants to keep saying that it’s a public good and receive state grants and appropriations in service of the public, then it needs to listen to the community feedback it receives.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Museum workers rally public support for contract campaign

April 23, 2024 by

Science Museum of Minnesota workers supported their union’s bargaining team during an informational picket and rally outside the museum in St. Paul.

Union members at the Science Museum of Minnesota tapped into a well of solidarity during their contract rally April 2, pulling support from hundreds of fellow AFSCME Council 5 members taking part in a convention across the street.

Together, they turned Kellogg Avenue’s sidewalk into a river of AFSCME’s trademark green, holding informational picketing to demand museum management pick up the pace in negotiations over a first union contract for the newly formed bargaining unit of over 200 workers.

“It’s been a real slog,” Gretchen Haupt, a member of the Science Museum of Minnesota Workers Union, said. “But the small gains we have gotten usually come after some action or public pressure. That’s why we’re out here today.”

When Haupt and other museum workers voted to unionize in January 2023, they cited a need for pay transparency, fair grievance and disciplinary processes, and compensation increases to reflect their skill levels and experience. The union’s bargaining team has turned those issues into more than 20 contract proposals over the course of negotiations that began over eight months ago.

Getting management to counter their proposals, though, has taken as long as five months. And when they do get a response, Haupt said, it’s usually unproductive.

“They laughed, actually, at our initial pay scale proposal,” she said. “But they still haven’t said what they would rather have, other than the way it is now. It’s really disheartening.”

[Show your solidarity! Supporters can sign a petition calling on the Science Museum to stop committing unfair labor practices and settle a fair contract.]

During the rally, Science Museum workers described a growing frustration among their ranks. Several speakers wondered how the nonprofit could claim, in its statement of values, a commitment “to achieve collective liberation” while showing such disdain for collective bargaining.

For Megan Goeke, an evaluation and research associate, the frustration has been building for some time. She has been stuck at the bottom of the recommended pay range – or lower – for her job classification since accepting her current role with the Science Museum six years ago. As she gained experience and moved closer to her doctoral degree, Goeke asked for a pay increase, but management refused, keeping her at the bottom of the pay scale.

“I love my work, and I truly believe in the vision and impact the Science Museum of Minnesota has on our community,” Goeke said. “When I decided to go into nonprofit museum work, I knew I wouldn’t see the biggest paycheck in town, but what I didn’t know is that my pay would forever be limited by my initial pay.”

Her message to museum management: “I’ve experienced my share of delays. Let’s see some action.”

But instead of working swiftly toward a first contract, Science Museum management has been engaging in unfair labor practices, according to 12 separate complaints filed by Council 5 with the National Labor Relations Board since workers voted to unionize.

The NLRB has upheld three charges, and others remain pending. Many of the complaints allege that the museum has made unilateral changes to benefits and working conditions – and even layoffs – without engaging the union.

Bart Anderson, Council 5’s interim executive director, said Science Museum bosses seem to believe that ignoring their workers’ union will make it go away. In fact, he said, it’s only going to bring more public pressure on the museum.

“AFSCME Council 5, our union of more than 43,000 workers, is standing firm on our commitment to support our Science Museum of Minnesota members every day as they fight to secure a first contract that respects the rights, contributions and dignity of all workers,” he said.

By sticking together as a bargaining unit and rallying public support to their campaign, union members at the museum believe they have the formula to achieve a fair first contract, Haupt said.

“It’s not just a small group of people who are at the bargaining table, we have broad internal support,” she said. “And today we’re showing we have broad community support, too.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Organizing, Politics Tagged With: , , , , ,

Science Museum workers vote to unionize

January 20, 2023 by

SMM Workers show their union pride on Instagram @smmworkersunion.

Workers at the Science Museum of Minnesota have voted to form a union.

Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers (AFSCME) announced the election results today. Museum workers petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a union election in November, and the board tallied votes yesterday.

“Workers at the Science Museum of Minnesota have voted overwhelmingly to join together in a union with the AFSCME Council 5 family, calling for dignity and respect for the work they do,” Council 5 Executive Director Julie Bleyhl said. “In spite of a significant anti-union pressure campaign by Science Museum of Minnesota management, these workers spoke decisively that they seek a voice in the workplace, fair pay for a day’s work, dignified paid leave policies, and more.”

About 250 Science Museum employees were eligible to participate in the union election. The bargaining unit will bring together a wide range of full-time, part-time and seasonal workers, including scientists, researchers, lab technicians and accounting specialists.

Nicole Dzenowski, a paleontologist at the Science Museum, spoke during a rally in support of fellow AFSCME members at the state historical society.

Like other nonprofit workers who have formed unions in recent years, Science Museum employees said they joined together, in part, to increase their say in the organization.

“We want a seat at the table,” paleontologist Nicole Dzenowski said during a rally last month in support of fellow AFSCME members bargaining their first union contract with the Minnesota Historical Society. “Right now we have no ability to be a part of the decisions that affect us.”

Bleyhl said Science Museum workers “will have the full support of our union as they continue their momentum and fight for dignity and respect as they negotiate a first contract with the Science Museum of Minnesota that lifts everyone up.”

Council 5 represents over 43,000 workers, mostly in the public sector. But the union has welcomed over 700 nonprofit workers into its ranks in the last three years, supporting successful union drives at the Walker Art Center, Regions Hospital, Cornerstone Advocacy Service and the Historical Society.

AFSCME says it represents about 35,000 cultural workers nationwide.

Filed Under: Organizing, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , ,