Staff at Whitney Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and American Folk Art Museum Authorize Strike
“Staff should be able to afford to live in the city they work in,” said one of the workers organized with UAW Local 2110.
Unionized workers at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the American Folk Art Museum (AFAM) have voted to authorize a strike action if they don't receive fair offers for union contracts with their respective institutions.
“Staff should be able to afford to live in the city they work in,” said AFAM's Director of Information Technology, Richard Ho, who has worked at the museum for 25 years. “AFAM staff voted unanimously to unionize to address pressing concerns about workplace rights and wages that lag below inflation.”
Strike dates have not been set, but the three union groups organized with United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2110 also voted to set a strike deadline if necessary, making note that each museum has a major exhibition opening in early October. The strike vote follows that of the Guggenheim Museum union, which voted to authorize strike action this June after six months of stalled contract negotiations.
Ratified in 2023, inaugural three-year union contracts at the Whitney and the Brooklyn Museum expired this summer. The Brooklyn Museum contract was ratified the day before its union planned to strike, averting the action entirely after stalled negotiations since 2021. The AFAM union, which officially banded in 2024, has been in negotiation with the museum for an inaugural contract for the last two years.
