Brooklyn Museum Union Plans Strike as Contract Negotiations Stall

Today, workers at the Brooklyn Museum announced their decision to go on strike in two weeks, on November 8, if a contract agreement is not reached before then. 

“Low salaries and lack of real career development are making long tenure at the Brooklyn Museum unsustainable,” said Associate Conservator Lauren Bradley in a statement shared with Hyperallergic. “I’ve seen several extremely qualified professionals leave my department for better offers elsewhere.” 

A Brooklyn Museum spokesperson told Hyperallergic that as of the afternoon of October 27, the institution had not been officially notified of the strike. They said it was “disappointing” that the union had chosen this course of action given the Interim Wage Agreement, signed in June, that provided an average wage increase of 16%. The spokesperson added that the museum has offered 3% annual increases over the next three years.

According to Local 2110’s strike announcement today, the union is fighting for 19.5% wage increases over the course of the four-and-a-half-year contract, minimum raises for employees upon promotion, and the right to outside arbitration over disputes about pay grade.

In August 2021, museum staff members joined Local 2110 UAW, a union that also represents cultural workers at institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art and Dia Art Foundation. They began contract negotiations in January 2022, calling for wage increases across the board and the creation of permanent positions for part-time employees. The union filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the museum last fall. While agreements on non-monetary issues have been reached, pay remains a sticking point.

As negotiations have inched along, union members have held a series of rallies at the institution, holding signs with phrases like “You can’t eat prestige,” and “social justice art; social justice wages,” a reference to the museum’s reputation as a socially progressive institution. At a widely attended picketing event this April at the Brooklyn Artists Ball, wealthy museum patrons attending the annual gala were met with staffers chanting, “overworked and underpaid.”

Bradley pointed out that the workers are responsible for the museum’s “incredibly important collection,” which includes a half million objects.

“But as a staff, we’re undervalued,” she said.

Brooklyn Museum workers are fighting for higher pay across the board.