Posts tagged museum
El Milagro workers cite gains, but why is no union involved?
August 1, 2023 // For around two years, workers at the tortilla manufacturer have waged a brave campaign for higher wages and better treatment. With help from the advocacy group Arise Chicago, they have had news conferences and briefly walked off the production lines to make their case. They also hauled the company before the National Labor Relations Board. And they have cited victories, including a wage increase, an end to illegal seven-day workweeks and other improvements. But it has all happened without the discernible involvement of a labor union. El Milagro would seem a worthy target for a union drive. It has about 450 employees and has been in business for decades. But one union leader, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss sensitive issues, said organizers may see it as a low-margin business with lots of competition.
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.
Changing institutional culture from the inside out: why more and more US museum workers are forming unions
May 19, 2023 // Organising efforts at Storm King, the PMA, the Hispanic Society and elsewhere reflect a trend that has been growing in the US art and heritage sector over the course of the past five years and accelerated with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Workers at more than 20 institutions have formed a union since 2020 or are actively in negotiations for their first contract, including the Jewish Museum and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and Mass Moca in Massachusetts. In March, after 16 months of negotiations, workers at the Whitney Museum of American Art, who had formed a union in spring 2021, ratified their first contract. State of the unions: why US museum workers are mobilising against their employers Tom Seymour The issues prompting workers to form unions across the country and across a broad range of industry sectors are remarkably consistent: wages, benefits and working conditions. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of wage and salary workers who belonged to a union in 2022 was 14.3 million, a 1.9% increase on 2021.
Museum of Science and Industry workers look to unionize
April 14, 2023 // Organizers say their goal with unionizing is to win increased pay, improve professional development opportunities, and improve overall workplace health and safety protocols.
Union Workers at Hispanic Society Begin Strike Over Stalled Contract Negotiations
April 4, 2023 // The union is seeking, among more, a 5 percent retroactive wage increase, guaranteed future wage increases, and guaranteed minimum salaries for all union positions, ranging from a $52,000 to $95,000, “depending on the salary grade of the position, and on par with other museums in the city.” A major point of contention is the health insurance, which the Society used to pay in full. Their latest offer asks that employees cover between 2.5 percent and 12.5 percent of their premium, based on income, while the union insists that the Society pay the entirety of both premiums and deductibles. (The Society’s statement notes that UAW Local 2110 works with other New York City cultural institutions where employees contribute to their healthcare.)
Notebaert Nature Museum workers urge support for union
March 27, 2023 // Unions typically need to show via signed cards support from a substantial majority of workers before scheduling an election with the National Labor Relations Board. An employer can voluntarily recognize a union, but most want an election that will give them time to make anti-union arguments to the workers. While known for representing government workers, AFSCME also counts more than 10,000 members at museums nationwide.
Art Museum workers continue strike into second week
October 6, 2022 // In the week since the strike began, there have been no negotiations between workers and management. After two years of negotiating, the union called a strike on September 26 when management came to the table with an offer to raise wages an average of 8.5% in the first 10 months of the contract, and 11% by July 2024, among other benefits such as four weeks of paid parental leave and accelerated eligibility for new employees to access medical coverage.
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).
MFA union ratifies its first contract
June 30, 2022 // The MFA Union represents all non-managerial employees who are not already represented by another collective bargaining agreement, and includes hourly front-of-house staff and part-time educators as well as members of administrative, technical, curatorial and conservation departments. Union leaders said the salary minimums will improve pay equity across departments and raise salaries up to industry standards. Curators and conservators, who are typically paid less than salaried professionals in other departments, will see the biggest gains. “There is room for improvement in museum compensation as an industry, but this is a step in that direction … so hopefully we don’t get so behind industry standards in the future,” said Eve Mayberger, a member of the bargaining committee and an assistant objects conservator at the museum. “It is a huge improvement for many of our unit members.” Matthew Teitelbaum, Maida Rosenstein
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.