On Monday morning, a labor union petitioned the Nationwide Labor Relations Board to approve a bargaining unit on the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork that may cowl roughly 1,000 salaried and hourly employees throughout the museum’s sectors. If the vote passes, the Met would rank among the many largest unionized museums within the nation.
A press launch from Native 2110 of the United Auto Staff (UAW) on November 17 cited “long run pay inequities, lack of job safety and ever-increasing workloads” as motivations for unionizing. Native 2110 represents employees throughout New York’s museums and cultural establishments, together with the Museum of Trendy Artwork, the Brooklyn Museum, the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum, the New Museum, and the Shed.
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At current, two smaller unions on the museum signify safety guards and projectionists.
“Over many many years, we now have labored to develop a tradition of inclusivity, collaboration and creativity, and take each alternative to uplift our staff,” Ann Bailis, a Met Museum spokeswoman, instructed The New York Occasions. “We respect the correct to hunt union illustration and are happy with our longstanding relationships with DC37 and Native 306 IATSE, which signify a big phase of our employees.”
Within the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which noticed cultural professionals nationwide lose their livelihoods, momentum for unions and unionization efforts at artwork museums, cultural establishments, and artwork colleges nationwide has solely grown. Every drive has been united by requires job safety, higher wages, and clearer paths for development.
A serious union drive had reportedly been brewing on the Met for a number of years, and Native 2110 UAW stated this week that staff formally reached out in 2022.
The Met has 2,015 staff, and in accordance with a museum spokesperson, greater than 600 of them earn over $100,000 yearly. The spokesperson added that salaries have elevated by a median of 4 p.c annually over the previous 5 years.
“Nonetheless, the Museum usually makes choices with out contemplating or consulting employees, similar to modifications to our Work from House coverage and erosion of our well being and different advantages,” stated Alison Clark, a collections supervisor on the Met for almost 20 years, in an announcement, as first quoted by Hyperallergic.
“Proper now, we’re contending with a number of large-scale capital tasks that displace individuals and create plenty of extra work for the employees. Unionizing is the one manner for us to have a robust collective voice to handle considerations with the Museum,” she continued.
On the identical day because the union announcement, the Met revealed the Costume Institute spring 2026 blockbuster exhibition, merely titled “Costume Artwork,” which can inaugurate the brand new, almost 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast galleries adjoining to the Nice Corridor. The museum additionally introduced Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his spouse, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, because the lead sponsors of the Met Gala for 2026, the institute’s star-studded fundraiser.
