Workers at Eastern State Penitentiary museum seek to unionize

About 70 workers at the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site in the city’s Fairmount section on Wednesday filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board.

The workers include educators serving as tour guides, other people who handle visitors’ services, retail employees, as well as facilities and some administrative staff, organizers said.

The group is seeking to join the United Steelworkers (USW), which has expanded to include workers in public-sector and service occupations. In 2020, workers at Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh voted to join the USW. The NLRB will set a date for the Eastern State election.

“The USW is a large diverse union that helps to empower workers in many different industries,” Joe Smydo, a spokesperson for the USW, said in an email. “We already represent museum workers, along with university professors, tech workers, library workers and many other groups. We help these workers bargain and enforce good contracts.”

Gary McCormick, an educator at Eastern State, said he knew that the USW represented museum workers and reached out to the union in September.

“We hit it off right away,” McCormick, who has worked at Eastern State for about 15 months, said in a phone interview. “It wasn’t like I was starting from square one. It seemed like a good fit.”

According to the USW news release announcing the NLRB filing, workers are seeking job security, transparency in the promotion process, and protection from discrimination and unfair discipline.

Workers also said they and visitors are subject to extreme temperatures and safety risks at the sprawling, partially open-air site that management allegedly has failed to address.

McCormick said the workers needed competitive wages and benefits so they would have more of an incentive to stay in their jobs.

“We’re unionizing because we need to advocate for ourselves when it comes to compensation and safety, without fear of reprisal,” Annie Finnegan, a visitors’ services worker for three years, said in a statement. “A union provides that seat at the table.”

Finnegan said the historic prison — a “living ruin” that once held notorious criminals such as Al Capone and Willie Sutton — requires continual care from knowledgeable employees. The prison operated from 1829 until 1971.

» READ MORE: Eastern State Penitentiary lays off staff, cancels Terror Behind the Walls for 2020

Sara Jane Elk, president and CEO of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, said in an emailed statement: “We respect our staff, and we look forward to discussions with them as this process unfolds.”

The nonprofit historic site opened to visitors in 1994 and more recently adopted a mission focused on criminal justice reform.

A 2018 economic impact study shows that Eastern State generated $46 million for Pennsylvania, supporting 385 jobs with $18 million in earnings within the Pennsylvania economy.

Much of the nonprofit’s revenue is generated from admission fees for group tours, in addition to events such as the popular Halloween-themed “Terror Behind the Walls,” which was renamed last year as “Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary.”

The nonprofit laid off about 40% of its staff and imposed budget cuts and salary reductions in 2020 because of pandemic restrictions. There have been no other layoffs or hiring freezes since then, McCormick said.

The USW represents about 850,000 workers across various industrial occupations.