Posts tagged Cultural Workers United
Workers Unionize at NIAD, Richmond’s Progressive Art Studio
October 17, 2024 // After NIAD workers delivered a letter of intent to executive director Amanda Eicher Tuesday morning, the organization’s board executive committee voted unanimously to recognize NIAD Unidad.
Storm King Art Center Recognizes Workers’ Union Following an Overwhelming Vote in Favor of Organizing by Staff
June 30, 2023 // “We are thrilled to welcome the workers of Storm King Art Center into our CSEA family,” CSEA southern region president Anthony M. Adamo said in a statement. “Not only do these workers have the support of their fellow CSEA members in the Hudson Valley and across New York State, they are also part of a strong coalition within our international union AFSCME known as Cultural Workers United, which allows them to connect and collaborate with other cultural workers organizing their workplaces.” Other museums with AFSCME units include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where a wall-to-wall union, formed in 2020, reached a contract agreement in October following a 19-day strike. The nation’s ranks of unionized museums and arts institutions have swelled in recent years, especially since 2020. Storm King workers began organizing last August, following the announcement of a $45 campus revamp, expected to be completed in 2024, the Art Newspaper reported.
Baltimore Museum Employees Unionize Amid National Labor Movement at Art Institutions
July 19, 2022 // Workers at the Baltimore Museum of Art announced plans to form a union last October. Among the changes the union sought were fairer wages, better job security, and input in museum policies that directly affected them, according to the union’s website. Many workers said they were inspired to embrace unionization in the wake of the pandemic, when front of house staff — who faced the greatest risk of contracting the virus — had little say in safety protocols and daily decision-making. BMA did not layoff or furlough employees during the pandemic, but mass layoffs at museums nationwide illustrated the preciousness of employment in the industry. Chris Bedford, Christine Dietze, Asma Naeem, New Museum and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Philadelphia Museum, as well as the MFA Boston and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, all formed unions. The Whitney Museum was among a small group of institutions to have seen their unions voluntarily and swiftly recognized by their leadership — the decision came just two weeks after employees filed a petition to join the Technical, Office, and Professional Union of Local 2110. (MOCA also voluntarily recognized its union).