Hispanic Society Staff Picket Board Chair's Manhattan Home
The small group of around 20 employees went on strike on March 27 and has not been paid since.
Striking workers of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, an Upper Manhattan institution dedicated to Portuguese and Spanish art, staged an action outside the Upper East Side home of Board Chair Philippe de Montebello today, April 19. The small group of around 20 employees went on strike on March 27 and has not been paid since.
The Hispanic Society's professional workforce (curators, conservators, librarians, and educators, among other employees) unionized in July 2021 after the museum eliminated their pension plan. The workers had long accepted lower wages in exchange for pensions and free healthcare. They joined UAW Local 2110, which represents museum workers across the city.
Negotiations for the workers' first union contract began in September 2021 but ground to a halt over healthcare: The museum wanted to eliminate the employees' free insurance.
"Everything was paid for, we compromised on the low salary in order for them to pay for the medical," bookbinder Michelle Nani told Hyperallergic. She's worked full-time at the Hispanic Society since 2003 and part-time since 1989. "Now they want to take away our medical insurance. That won't compensate for that little bit of increase that we'll get."
Outside de Montebello's apartment, Hispanic Society workers were joined by UAW staff members in the small action, which lasted around an hour. The picketers chanted, "What's disgusting, union busting!" and "What's outrageous, poverty wages!" along with Spanish slogans including, "Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, ¿qué queremos? Un contrato" and "Sí se puede!" De Montibello did not show up.
The museum put forth its last contract offer on March 3. Although it offered wage increases, the proposal included employee insurance premium contributions ranging from 2.5% to 12.5%, depending on the worker's income.
Both parties met with a federal mediator on April 3, and in a statement shared with Hyperallergic, the museum says it's now willing to continue covering 100% of current employees' healthcare premiums but will require future employees to pay 10% to 25% of the premium. The institution says it would continue to pay workers' deductibles in both cases.
"It amounts to union busting," librarian Javier Milligan said of the tiered insurance system. "That's a way to weaken the union."
Since 2021, Local 2110 has filed five unfair labor practice charges against the Hispanic Society.
The union also alleges that the Hispanic Society is mishandling its collection. Workers cited a lack of temperature control, insufficient collection care staff, and an unsafe April 13 delivery of works that included Francisco de Goya's “The Duchess of Alba” (1797). The museum said in a statement shared with Hyperallergic that the delivery was "properly handled and went smoothly as expected."
The Hispanic Society has been closed for renovations since 2017 except for a rotating exhibition space. Re-opening dates have repeatedly been shifted back, and no firm date has been set. Meanwhile, workers are not being paid and bargaining has come to a complete standstill. No negotiation sessions have been held since the strike began.
"It's in the power of the management to settle this," said print and photography curator Patrick Lenaghan, a 28-year veteran of the museum. "We've made as many concessions as possible. They have to budge."
He added that "nobody wants to be on strike," but "we can't go back to a situation where we're going to be disrespected and treated badly."
Milligan reiterated this point, stating he is sick of striking and wants to get back to work, but believes he and his coworkers deserve a fair contract.
"I'm thinking of myself and the future workers," said Milligan.
