Staff at Barack Obama’s new presidential center in Chicago are organizing a union just months after it opened, citing heavier workloads, benefit cuts, and little voice in workplace decisions.
Sixty-eight workers signed an open letter this week saying they are launching Obama Workers United under AFSCME Council 31, according to Daily Mail reporting on the drive. The effort covers more than 250 employees at the Chicago campus, foundation offices in Washington, D.C., and remote posts around the country.
The center opened to the public in June. Organizers began handing out materials outside the site this week as union cards circulated. Workers say leadership met their concerns with vague answers while conditions worsened.
Employee and organizing committee member Luke Gilday told the Chicago Sun-Times that staff want a seat at the table on choices that shape their lives.
"What we’re hoping for, and really the reason why we’re forming our union, is just because we believe we should have a say in the decisions that are being made that impact all of our lives."
Gilday framed the campaign as living out the Obamas’ stated values of hope, fairness, and transparency. He said workers care about the foundation’s success and do not want to undercut its mission.
The letter, first shared by the Chicago Sun-Times, lists rising workloads and benefit cutbacks. Staff say they were recently told healthcare costs would go up, promotions were suspended, paid time off was reduced, and no pay raises would come this winter.
Workers also point to high turnover. Colleagues keep leaving and take institutional knowledge with them, the letter states. Anders Lindall, director of public affairs for AFSCME 31, said the organizing committee is already pressing staff to join.
"Generally everybody wants a voice. That extends to compensation and conditions in the workplace and more."
The foundation’s price tag tells its own story. Planners once talked about a $300 million project. Costs later climbed past $850 million. Design critics called the campus unattractive when it opened. Those aesthetic fights now sit beside labor friction inside the same institution.
Public images of Barack and Michelle Obama marking personal milestones still project ease and success. The workplace letter presents a different picture for the people paid to keep the operation running.
Trouble did not start with the staff letter. Just days before the June grand opening, several subcontractors said they were owed millions in past-due invoices. Omar Shareef, president of the African American Contractors Association, said several workers told him they wished they had never taken the job.
That earlier dispute left a sour taste among firms that helped build the campus. The new organizing drive now brings the same accountability questions inside the foundation’s own payroll.
Political memory of Obama still shapes daily coverage, including moments when Stephen A. Smith described a private call from the former president after public criticism of Joe Biden. The Chicago fight is more basic: pay, hours, benefits, and who decides them.
Organizers quoted a 2016 letter Obama circulated during that year’s presidential contest. The line they highlighted is blunt.
"If I were looking for a good job that lets me build some security for my family, I’d join a union. If I saw a problem in my workplace, I’d organize my coworkers to do something about it."
Gilday said the campaign simply applies that standard to the foundation that carries the Obama name. The letter treats the quote as both inspiration and pressure.
An Obama Foundation spokesperson told WBEZ the group respects the right to organize.
"We are deeply committed to the fundamental right of workers to organize and make their voices heard. As members of our staff explore union representation, we approach this process with immense gratitude for their contributions, deep respect for unions, and a sincere commitment to working collaboratively with our partners in labor."
The statement offers process language. It does not directly answer the specific claims about healthcare hikes, frozen promotions, cut paid leave, or the winter freeze on raises. The Daily Mail said it contacted the foundation for further comment.
Anniversary posts and warm tributes still circulate around the former first couple, including after rounds of divorce speculation. None of that softens the ledger for staff who say their benefits are moving the wrong direction.
Supporters once sold the presidential center as a monument to progressive values. The workers now organizing under AFSCME say those values should include a real voice on compensation and daily conditions. Their letter treats “hope” and “fairness” as workplace tests, not museum slogans.
No election date or formal NLRB filing appears in the available reporting. Cards are circulating. Materials went out this week. Sixty-eight signatures started the public phase. The scope already reaches past 250 people across Chicago, Washington, and remote roles.
National politics still uses the Obama years as a measuring stick. One recent example came when Donald Trump said he held back from targeting Clinton, Biden, and Obama out of respect for the office. Respect for the office does not settle a payroll fight inside a foundation that bears a former president’s name.
Cost overruns, contractor payment fights, and now an internal union drive form a single pattern. Large promises met smaller delivery for the people closest to the work. Staff who once accepted the mission pitch now want contracts, not just speeches.
Even sharp political theater, such as a Truth Social meme ranking Obama on corruption, stays downstream of this simpler fact: the people running the center say they need a union to get answers their managers would not give.
Elite institutions preach solidarity until the bill arrives on their own desk. Chicago’s newest presidential campus is learning that lesson the hard way.
