{"id":156720,"date":"2023-05-01T00:48:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T00:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culture.org\/?p=156720"},"modified":"2023-05-02T00:52:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T00:52:54","slug":"brooklyn-museum-workers-demand-equitable-employment-terms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/brooklyn-museum-workers-demand-equitable-employment-terms\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Museum Workers Demand Equitable Employment Terms"},"content":{"rendered":" \r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n
<\/p>\n
As the Brooklyn Museum welcomed attendees to its annual Artists Ball on Wednesday night, the institution’s union members staged a protest outside the event.<\/span><\/p>\n They expressed discontent with the prevailing working conditions and remuneration packages at the museum.<\/span><\/p>\n The employees initiated the unionization process in 2021, with 130 staff members from various departments opting to join the Technical, Office, and Professional Union, Local 2110.<\/span><\/p>\n This union falls under the United Automobile Workers (UAW) umbrella.<\/span><\/p>\n Talks between the museum’s administration and union representatives commenced in January 2022 but have since reached an impasse, primarily due to disagreements surrounding healthcare benefits, job stability, and salary adjustments.<\/span><\/p>\n The union alleges that staff members have not received any pay raises since 2020, even as the cost of living and rent prices in New York City continue to surge.<\/span><\/p>\n While some progress has been made in addressing healthcare-related concerns, financial matters remain unsettled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The union’s demands include a 16.25% salary increase over three and a half years, enhanced working hours, job security, and pay raises for part-time employees.<\/span><\/p>\n The museum’s leadership has reportedly proposed a 3.5-year contract that would implement department-wide pay increases, culminating in an overall 9% raise by the end of the contract term.<\/span><\/p>\n However, the union maintains that this offer falls short of the results achieved through negotiations at comparable establishments, such as the Whitney Museum and the Bronx Museum.<\/span><\/p>\n The union further accuses the museum of attempting to undermine their bargaining power by eliminating union positions and creating higher-paying roles that are excluded from the union.<\/span><\/p>\n The employees initiated the unionization process in 2021, with 130 staff members from various departments opting to join the Technical, Office, and Professional Union, Local 2110.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>\r\n\r\n Union members have emphasized that their protests are directed at the museum’s management rather than the artists or guests in attendance.<\/span><\/p>\n They believe that the artists, including guest of honor Carrie Mae Weems, would support their efforts to establish a fair work environment.<\/span><\/p>\n Owen O\u2019Brien, a manager at the museum, expressed optimism that the demonstrations would resonate with the artists and eventually lead to improvements in salary and working conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n With a renewed sense of determination, union representatives have resumed negotiations, aspiring to secure a contract resembling those established at other renowned New York institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n Carmen Hermo, an associate curator at the museum, stressed the importance of providing the museum’s employees with equitable treatment, particularly given its international reputation and stature within the art world.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":156721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[410],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-and-culture"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Deadlocked Negotiations<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Benchmarking with Similar Organizations<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n
Demonstrations Target Administration, Not Creatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Resuming Negotiation Talks<\/strong><\/h2>\n