Minnesota Historical Society workers seeking higher pay as officials confront shortages

Minnesota Historical Society employees plan to rally Saturday for better pay and benefits at the mostly state-funded organization, where staffing levels remain below pre-pandemic levels despite this year's rebuilding.

The Historical Society, one of the largest such state organizations in the nation, laid off more than a third of its employees at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and has faced higher turnover recently. It manages 26 museums and historic sites, from Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore to Historic Fort Snelling in the Twin Cities.

Some employees say stagnant wages are the top reason for the retention issues at the St. Paul-based nonprofit.

"What it feels like right now is every week someone is putting in their notice at the Historical Society," said Molly Jessup, a program specialist at Mill City Museum in Minneapolis. "They can't afford to work here."

Historical Society CEO Kent Whitworth said in a statement Friday that the organization increased all salaries by 3% in September, following a 3% raise in 2021, and is "committed to having a better compensated workforce."

"Raising salaries supports our strategic initiative to create a sustainable future by investing in our human resources," he said.

Nonprofits across Minnesota are increasingly struggling to attract and retain employees in the tight labor market and what's been dubbed the "Great Resignation." More nonprofits are offering sign-on bonuses and other incentives to bolster staffing.

Minnesota's nearly 10,000 nonprofits employ about 14% of the state's workforce, but the number of nonprofit workers has shrunk by nearly 30,000 since before the outbreak of COVID.

In a new report by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, about half of the nonprofits surveyed said they're facing staffing shortages, difficulties hiring workers and high turnover. The top two factors they cited were worker burnout and inability to meet employees' pay expectations.

The average salary of nonprofit workers in Minnesota, excluding those who work at large hospitals or colleges, was $61,247 in 2021, according to the council.

Historical Society employees argue that their pay lags wages at public libraries or in similar state government roles. Jessup said the low pay and retention issues were among the reasons employees voted to unionize last year, part of a national trend among museums and arts organizations.

Employees at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul are also seeking to unionize, filing an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board last month. The Science Museum lost about $15 million due to COVID closures and laid off 158 staffers in 2020, nearly 40% of its workforce.

Jessup, who is president of the Historical Society union under AFSCME Council 5, said employees at cultural organizations want their pay and benefits to be competitive.

"Institutions will say 'Well, it's a nonprofit; the mission is really important so you can't be expected to earn super high wages,' " she said. "The mission doesn't pay your rent. The mission doesn't put food on your table. You still have to have livable wages."

Workers in the Historical Society union make on average $18 an hour, leaving nearly half of them below the Twin Cities' living wage of $18.20, according to the union. On average, salaried union employees at the Historical Society make $27.65 an hour or about $57,000 a year, below the average Twin Cities hourly wage of $30.76.

The union, which plans to hold its rally at noon Saturday at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, is pushing the Historical Society to raise its minimum pay to $20 an hour, among other improved job benefits.

"I don't think anyone here is expecting really extravagant wages," Jessup said. "But they do want to be able to afford to make ends meet."

Because earned revenues including admission fees make up 20% of its income, the Historical Society lost critical dollars when it closed its sites at the start of the pandemic. Unlike most nonprofits, the Historical Society is largely supported by taxpayers, with state funding making up two-thirds of its budget.

According to an online statement from the Historical Society, it "must be wise stewards of the funding entrusted to us from donors and the state of Minnesota." It added that employees have "some of the best benefits in the state" and that it uses state salary grids to set minimum pay and gauges pay with comparable nonprofits.

In his statement, Whitworth said the organization has a "generous benefits package" and is "attracting employees who are inspired by our mission to serve all the people of Minnesota by creating powerful engagement with history."

Earlier this year, the Historical Society had about 350 employees — 82 below the number working in June 2020 — and had set a goal to hire about 75 workers by the summer of 2023. As of last month it counted 378 full-time workers, and Whitworth said they're on track to meeting their hiring goal.

Jessup said she worries her colleagues won't stick around, with many of them working second jobs or postponing car repairs and other expenses to make ends meet.

"People have made sacrifices for a long time to be able to work at these institutions," she said. "And we want to make sure these jobs exist in the future and they are affordable for a wider group of people."