Posts tagged Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
Strike at MASS MoCA end after union members ratify a deal with museum management
March 29, 2024 // The union, created in March 2021 under Local 2110 United Auto Workers, had been negotiating with museum management since October. As part of these negotiations, MASS MoCA offered to raise its minimum hourly wage by a dollar to $17.25, according to a March 1 press release from the museum. The union had proposed $18.25. “Equity and wage increases for MASS MoCA’s staff have never been a matter of if, but a matter of how fast,” Director Kristy Edmunds wrote in a statement on Wednesday. The museum said new wages will go into effect within 30 days of the agreement.
Area restaurants taking a hit as MASS MoCA strike enters its second week
March 15, 2024 // MASS MoCA is in the former location of Sprague Electric, a sprawling campus with multiple buildings. A brewery and several eateries are among those who rent space from the museum. Xavier Jones owner of Bigg Daddy's Philly Steak House said he's had a significant drop in customers, because of the strike. People who live or work in North Adams don't want to cross a daily picket line, Jones said. Just a week before the strike began, on social media Jones posted that he was hiring, looking for chefs to prepare his signature Philly Cheesesteak and chicken wings. On Monday, he said so few customers have placed orders since the strike began, he's had to cut staff, and he is concerned he'll have to cut back even more.
Workers at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art plan one-day strike
August 22, 2022 // About 100 workers at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) plan to conduct a one-day strike on Friday, August 19. Nearly all workers (96 percent) supported the action in a recent vote, and they plan to picket in front of the museum during visiting hours. The workers are fighting for a living wage in one of the country’s most expensive states. Will Lehman, Kristy Edmunds, Tenneco,
State of the unions: why US museum workers are mobilising against their employers
February 4, 2022 // TA report by the American Alliance of Museums, published in April 2021, found that museums closed to the public for an average of 28 weeks during 2020. More than 75% of those surveyed stated that their income fell by an average of 40% that year, while 56% went through rounds of layoffs and furloughs. Rehiring, in most cases, is off the table. Those who kept their positions have had to pick up the slack.
‘We are in crisis mode’: Museum workers are turning to unions over conditions they say are untenable
November 4, 2021 // The coronavirus compounded the stressors of past years. According to a report by the American Alliance of Museums in April, museums in the United States locked their doors to the public for an average of 28 weeks starting in March 2020 because of the pandemic; nearly 30 percent remain shuttered today. Lost revenue from the forced closures hit the bottom line hard: Three-quarters of all museums surveyed said their income fell an average of 40 percent last year.