Union organizers representing workers at Penn Libraries and the Penn Museum recently voiced concerns over potential changes to employee benefits.
In an April 9 social media post, union-affiliated accounts representing workers at Penn Libraries and the Penn Museum wrote their colleagues are “sounding the alarm” about possible reductions to benefits such as healthcare, retirement, and paid time off. The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with union representatives and organizers to discuss their concerns.
A request for comment was left with Penn Libraries and the Penn Museum.
“University management is signaling to our unions a plan to reduce existing benefits like healthcare, retirement, and PTO,” the post authored by the Coalition of Workers at Penn read. The coalition was established in 2023 to bring together University workers and local labor representatives.
“As unionized staff, we are protected from management unilaterally reducing our benefits, so we have advance notice and the ability to fight back,” the statement continued. “We intend to do so.”
Sarah Shaw, a lead negotiator with District Council 47 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, told the DP that the union’s concerns stem from recent updates to Penn’s employee health benefits.
She specifically referenced the introduction of a “working partner premium” — which requires employees to pay an additional $100 per month to cover a spouse or partner who is eligible for insurance through their own employer — a change she described as a “big red flag.”
According to Shaw, workers at the Penn Museum have filed a grievance related to these health benefit changes. She argued that Penn was “instituting these changes without providing the union with the opportunity to bargain over them.”
“What our represented employees have is what the rest of the University has,” she added. “Penn’s telling us, we want to keep the door open to making your benefits worse … That means they’re thinking about that for the entire University, not just for unions.”
She told the DP that another concern raised by the union involves a contract provision on whether the University can reduce employee benefits during the term of an agreement.
According to Shaw, Penn previously agreed to language stating it would not “eliminate or reduce” benefits, but that the University recently rejected the “reduce part of the ‘eliminate and reduce’ language.”
“The message that we’re getting from them is that the University wants to keep the door open to literally making people's benefits worse,” she added.
In a later statement to the DP, Shaw clarified that the University has since agreed on language stating it will not reduce benefits for the duration of the agreement.
Evan Kassof, an organizer with the Philadelphia Council American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, wrote to the DP that the issue reflects broader concerns about labor and institutional priorities.
“When an employer is this rich, threatening workers’ benefits during union negotiations is simply about power – not money,” Kassof, who also serves as a facilitator of the Coalition of Workers at Penn, wrote.
Penn Libraries and Penn Museum’s ongoing negotiations come during a larger wave of labor activity on campus. In February, Penn reached a historic contract with its graduate student union, narrowly averting a strike.
“Every time there is a new bargaining unit at Penn, it’s increasing worker power and leveling the playing field a little bit,” Shaw said.
Last month, Research Associates and Postdocs United at Penn also urged the University to respond to demands regarding compensation, health care, childcare, and support for international researchers.
“Nothing’s really going to change,” Shaw said. “Penn is not going to behave any differently until there is real worker power and unity and solidarity at the University.”
Senior reporter Ananya Karthik covers central administration and can be reached at karthik@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies communication and economics. Follow her on X @ananyaakarthik.
