> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Employees at One of LA’s Largest Museums Announce Plans to Unionize
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/employees-at-one-of-las-largest-museums-announce-plans-to-unionize/
- Published: 2019-11-22T21:12:47.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:53:00.000Z
- Description: About 50 employees of the Museum of Contemporary Art gathered outside of MOCA Director Klaus Biesenbach’s office this morning and read a statement that formally declared their plans to form a union.
- Author: Matt Stromberg
- Tags: News, California, Los Angeles, Unions, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:41 (2019, 2020, part 2)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2019/11/the_museum_of_contemporary_art_moca_sign_2576025404.jpg)

The Museum of Contemporary Art (via Wikimedia Commons)

LOS ANGELES — The labor movement is spreading across Los Angeles’s museum world as employees at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) announced their intentions to unionize Friday morning, November 22\. A group of about 50 employees from several departments including visitor services, communications, exhibitions, and retail, gathered outside the office of MOCA Director Klaus Biesenbach to read a statement and [formally declare their plans to form a union](https://twitter.com/Katbusbrawl/status/1197949281686081536?ref=hyperallergic.com). “We ask that the Board and Management respect and not interfere with our democratic right to organize and to bargain with us in good faith for a contract that will ensure a living wage and a sustainable lifestyle for all present and future workers,” their statement read, as posted on their [Instagram account](https://www.instagram.com/moca%5Funion/?ref=hyperallergic.com). Biesenbach was not in his office at the time, according to [*Los Angeles Magazine*](https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/moca-workers-announce/?ref=hyperallergic.com).

“While we respect the right of employees to decide whether or not they wish to be represented by a union, we do not believe that this union is in the best interest of our employees or the museum,” reads a statement from the museum provided to Hyperallergic via email.

This action by MOCA employees comes just days after the museum announced that it will be [offering free general admission](https://hyperallergic.com/free-admission-to-las-museum-of-contemporary-art-begins-january-11-2020/) beginning January 11\. Deborah Vankin of the[*Los Angeles Times*](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-11-20/moca-free-admission-starts?ref=hyperallergic.com)noted that “free admission typically means a significant jump in attendance,” leading to “a slew of infrastructure and visitor engagement changes,” to better manage the increased traffic. These changes could potentially put a greater strain on visitor services workers.

It also comes just weeks after a similar unionization effort was announced by workers at the Marciano Art Foundation, which was [followed shortly by the laying off of all 70 visitor services associates and the shuttering of the institution](https://hyperallergic.com/marciano-art-foundation-workers-protest-mass-layoffs-and-sudden-shuttering-of-the-museum/). It is worth noting that Maurice Marciano, who founded Guess Jeans with his brother Paul, is a Chair Emeritus on MOCA’s board, and Biesenbach’s full title is the [Maurice Marciano Director](https://www.moca.org/about/staff?ref=hyperallergic.com).