UAW Local 2110 filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board asking for a vote to form a bargaining
unit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The union would represent nearly 1,000 workers, including curators, conservators, retail specialists and educators.
“Right now, we’re contending with several large-scale capital projects that displace people and create a lot of additional work for the staff,” Alison Clark, a collections manager, said in a statement. “Unionizing is the only way for us to have a strong collective voice to address concerns with the museum.”
Other prominent New York museums have formed unions recently, including the Brooklyn Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum, and more than a dozen museums have unionized across the country over the past five years.
The workers are seeking better pay, benefits and job protection, noting a widening gap between management and rank-and-file staff members.
AFL-CIO Daily Brief