Former President Barack Obama speaks during the June 18 dedication ceremony for the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson / Getty Images; Scott Olson / Getty Images)
By Joe Saunders October 9, 2026 at 3:54pm
Barack Obama’s own words are coming back to bite him.
The former Democratic president, who coasted to two campaign victories fueled by union support, has lionized organized labor in his public remarks.
He might be singing a different tune now that fed-up workers at his own presidential library are talking about unionizing themselves.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, employees at the monstrous Barack Obama Presidential Center — also known as the “Death Star” — have launched a campaign to unionize the 4-month-old Chicago institution.
Workers at the Obama Foundation and Presidential Center said they’re forming a union. https://t.co/1K1mlkknPy
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) October 8, 2026
And their gripes might sound familiar to anyone who’s spent time in the working world outside unionized government labor.
Will the organization drive make Obama regret his words lionizing unions?
“Amidst increasing workloads we have seen our benefits rolled back and support from leadership to be minimal,” the workers wrote in an open letter to colleagues seeking support for unionizing. “When we voice concerns we are met with vague responses, leading to uncertainty about our future with the foundation. Due to this unsustainable work environment, many of our skilled, passionate colleagues continue to leave, taking with them their institutional knowledge and expertise. The high turnover rate has contributed further to our overwhelming workloads and as a consequence, we struggle to perform our duties at the high standard to which we expect.”
“If I were looking for a good job… I’d join a union.” — Barack Obama (2016). Now, workers at the newly opened Obama Presidential Center are taking his advice. Facing frozen pay and rising healthcare costs, staff are officially moving to unionize.
#LaborRights #ObamaCenter #ChicagoNews #UnionStrong— Diamond and Silk® (@DiamondandSilk) October 9, 2026
The organizers then quoted Obama himself extolling the benefits of unions in a Labor Day letter in 2016 — the last year of his benighted presidency. It was addressed to “America’s hardworking men and women”:
“As I’ve said before, if I were looking for a good job that lets me build some security for my family, I’d join a union,” Obama wrote. “If I saw a problem in my workplace, I’d organize my coworkers to do something about it. Especially because today, more workers than ever need a stronger voice — from pipefitters and fast-food workers to journalists and tech workers.”
Well, he can add “presidential center employees” to that list.
The workers are hoping to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 to represent them against the Obama Foundation, which manages the presidential center.
In a statement, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, the foundation is pretending, at least, to welcome the news.
“We are deeply committed to the fundamental right of workers to organize and make their voices heard,” the statement said. “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.”
Barack Obama is facing a fresh humiliation at his ‘eyesore’ presidential center as workers have slammed the project’s bosses and moved to unionize just months after it opened. 🔗 https://t.co/Nsf6bp7kjp https://t.co/kWjDkvY782
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) October 8, 2026
There are a couple of reasons to assume that’s a lie from first to last.
The first one is the source. If Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House proved anything, it’s that he’s a liar of the first order, and his lies were legion. He lied about the “Russia collusion” smears that bedeviled the first administration of President Donald Trump.
He lied about the provisions of Obamacare. He lied about the effect of his taxes on Americans. He lied about terrorism and the failures of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that could have threatened his re-election.
He lied about his racist pastor, Jeremiah Wright.
Any handful of Americans who recall the Obama presidency could probably add three items of their own to that list without repeating each other.
He lied, in short, about everything.
The second reason to assume it’s a lie is common sense. Employers don’t welcome unions for the simple reason that unions can make life miserable for management. Essentially no one, anywhere, ever started a business thinking, “Maybe one day I’ll be sitting at a bargaining table making concessions on raises, working hours, and health benefits to my employees’ union. Won’t that be awesome?”
Now, the Obama Presidential Center has not had an easy time of it — almost certainly because of the ineptitude and corruption that have surrounded Obama in his career in public office.
Originally scheduled to open in 2021, it was delayed until this year, when it opened on the fake holiday of Juneteenth (very fitting, considering the circumstances) and already reportedly in debt (also very fitting, under the circumstances).
Workers at the Obama Foundation and Presidential Center say benefits have been cut, raises are frozen, and people are leaving.
Sixty-eight of them signed a letter Wednesday saying they are organizing a union.
The contractors who built the trash can say they still have not been paid.
Adamson Plumbing says it is out nearly $4 million and filed a $1.72 million lien. Concrete Collective filed one for more than $40 million. Area Erectors is claiming about $620,000, CSI 3000 about $236,000, Floors Inc. about $25,000, O’Leary’s about $184,000, the cement masons’ benefit fund more than $326,000, and Intek about $47,000.
Hope and Change, or Obama’s legacy?
Hard to tell.
@Suntimes | H/T @ABC7Chicago
— Jen (@IlliniJen) October 8, 2026
It’s very possible that some of the employees’ gripes relate to those troubled beginnings. It also might just be that Americans by the millions aren’t exactly thronging to get through the doors of the Temple to Racial Grift.
But it’s apparent that the workers don’t care about the cause. What they apparently do care about is that the most leftist president since Woodrow Wilson (a man whose blot on American history outstains even Obama) isn’t playing nice enough with those in his employ.
And they’re trying to form a union to do something about it.
To be clear, this is not a union of the kind that represents workers in the real world, where results matter and profit and loss count — power plants, for instance, or construction trades, or grocery stores. It’s not a union that represents the kind of actual working men and women Democrats pretend to champion.
The Obama Presidential Center employees know exactly what they’re looking for, and it’s an AFSCME local — the stereotype of a government worker union — they’re trying to get.
Obama’s foundation folks can put all the positive spin on it they want, but the reality is that a union of government workers is never, ever going to improve the efficiency of its place of employment. That is emphatically not, and never has been, what public employee unions do. (Just look at the country’s disgraceful teachers unions.)
If the union drive succeeds, the Obama Presidential Center is a solid bet for some chronic union troubles in the not-so-distant future.
And it will have Barack Obama’s own words to blame.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn’t need a printing press to do it.
Birthplace
Philadelphia
Nationality
American
