UAW Local 2110 this week petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a union election for nearly a thousand full-time and part-time professional and non-professional staff of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Workers cite long term pay inequities, lack of job protection and ever-increasing workloads as reasons for the unionization efforts.
Initial conversations about unionizing started in 2020, with staff sharing concerns generated by the pandemic. In 2022, the group reached out to UAW Local 2110, known nationally for organizing staff at major cultural institutions, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MoMA, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Guggenheim Museum, MASS MoCA, the Whitney Museum of American Art and others.
“The Met is an amazing place. I’ve worked here almost 20 years, and love it,” says Alison Clark, Collections Manager. “However, the Museum often makes decisions without considering or consulting staff, such as changes to our Work from Home policy and erosion of our health and other benefits. Right now, we’re contending with several large scale capital projects that displace people and create a lot of additional work for the staff. Unionizing is the only way for us to have a strong collective voice to address concerns with the Museum.”
If successful these workers will join Met union siblings from DC37 (representing guards, building staff and art handlers) and IATSE Local 306 (representing audio visual and tech support staff). Read more from the UAW and in the New York Times, Hyperallergic, and Hell Gate.
