The Art Institute of Chicago has announced it will lay off its entire in-house custodial staff, and subsequently outsource the positions to private contractor. On June 29, an initial announcement detailing the plan was released: 23 unionized custodial workers responsible for cleaning the galleries and facilities would lose their jobs. The union workers are demanding the museum reverse its decision, and started a petition to give the custodial staff members their jobs back. “The Art Institute deeply values our employees, and we are grateful for the important work our custodial team does every day,” a museum spokesperson said in a statement to the Chicago Sun-Times. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago previously laid off 20 workers last November, including three of five employees responsible for maintaining the museum’s renowned Video Data Bank.