Guggenheim Museum Union Votes to Authorize Strike
With an emphasis on job security after abrupt layoffs last year, negotiations for the second contract have been ongoing since December.
As negotiations for the second contract with the Guggenheim Museum in New York City enter their sixth month, unionized staff across several departments have voted to authorize a strike if necessary. Organized under UAW Local 2110, the Guggenheim's union has been pushing for increased job protections and higher pay following the abrupt layoff of 20 employees in February 2025.
After filing a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board regarding the layoffs, the union is zeroing in on additional job security measures and improved severance pay. Union chair Drew Reynolds, who works as a museum educator, said in a press statement that the layoffs that affected 14 union positions were implemented “chaotically,” and alleged that the impacted workers were made to leave the museum “with no advance notice and no union representation.”
“The cuts to staff created hardships for those of us remaining because we were forced to pick up a lot of extra work,” Reynolds continued. “Workers took the brunt of the cuts while museum leadership did not give up a penny in their salaries.”
Reynolds pointed to the Guggenheim Foundation hiring Melissa Chiu as the museum's incoming director this September, among other executive-level hires, while entry-level staff continue to make less than $50,000 annually. According to the union, over half of the museum's workforce earns less than $71,000 annually. The minimum amount that a single adult with no children must earn to keep up with the cost-of-living threshold in New York City is $70,334, according to the Mayor's Office.
The Guggenheim is currently offering a four-year contract with a 3% pay increase retroactive to January and scheduled 2.75% increases for the following three years. However, the union's bargaining team says that the proposed increases don't line up with NYC's current inflation rate of 5.1%, and also don't account for skyrocketing healthcare costs.
The union is advocating for a three-year agreement with a 5% retroactive increase for 2026, and 4.25% bumps for the following two years.
The union is also seeking a “modest reduction” in healthcare costs for employees making less than $75,000, saying that annual coverage for a single adult begins at $1,600 — a figure that nearly triples for employees with families. Concerns regarding healthcare premiums and financial instability were highlighted at a union rally outside the museum during the reception for Carol Bove's solo exhibition earlier in March.
In a statement to Hyperallergic, a spokesperson for the Guggenheim said that the museum is “currently at the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith towards a renewal of the contract” and that the museum and the union bargaining teams have reached an agreement on “a number of issues.”
Archivist Anton Sherin emphasized that union members are deeply committed to their work, but they “need management to understand that what they are offering is unsustainable.”
