After seven months, the workers of Storm King Art Center, in New York’s Hudson Valley, successfully staged. The institution voluntarily recognized the new union, following a lengthy negotiation process and two elections, one in person at the museum on April 27 and an online vote for the Visitor Services Department on May 23.
A total of 68 workers at the popular New Windsor Sculpture Park, home to monumental works such as Alexander Calder, Marc di SuveroAnd Maya Linare now part of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Local 1000, an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
“We fully support the right of our employees to choose whether or not to form a union,” a Storm King spokesperson told Artnet News in an email, noting that at the time of the second vote, “the paperwork for voluntarily recognizing the new bargaining unit was already complete, allowing us to move forward without delay towards collective bargaining.We remain committed to bargaining in good faith with the staff.
“We are thrilled to welcome Storm King Art Center workers to our CSEA family,” CSEA Southern Region President Anthony M. Adamo said in a statement. statement. “Not only do these workers have the support of their fellow CSEA members in the Hudson Valley and across New York State, they are also part of a strong coalition within our international union AFSCME known as the name of United Cultural Workersallowing them to connect and collaborate with other cultural workers organizing their workplaces.
Other museums with AFSCME units include the Metropolitan Museum of ArtTHE Brooklyn Museumand the Philadelphia Museum of Artor one wall-to-wall union, formed in 2020hit a contractual agreement in October following a 19 day strike.
National ranks of unionized museums and arts institutions have swollen in recent yearsespecially since 2020. Workers at Storm King began organizing last August, following the announcement of a $45 campus overhaul, slated for completion in 2024, the art diary reported.
“We’ve started to see art museums across the country getting organized,” said Marques Villaronga, a visitor services worker with Storm King. Union Times in December, “and I realized we could make it happen here too.”
Storm King union leaders wrote a letter to the president of the organizationJohn P. Stern, October 25, 2022, stating that the majority of eligible personnel had signed cards stating that they supported CSEA membership.
The institution did not immediately recognize the unionopting instead to put the issue to a vote among workers and engaging Klein, Zelman, Rothermel, Jacobs and Schess LLP, a New York law firm specializing in “union avoidance,” among others.
In March, union members launched a Action Network campaign asking supporters to email the Storm King board and demand they meet with the union’s organizing committee.
The call to action accused Storm King of “hiring an anti-union lawyer to set us back for months” and “tak[ing] advantage of [National Labor Relations Board] process to challenge the eligibility of Visitor Services and Museum Stores staff to be together in a wall-to-wall inclusive union.
In April, just before its first vote, Storm King union leaders met with New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who voiced support for their organizing efforts.
I was in Rockland County talking with local union leaders about the fight to pass the #PROAct and protect unions and working families.
I’m proud to stand with the Storm King Art Center workers who will vote this week to unionize. When unions win, American families win! pic.twitter.com/Zs13RHY4Xm
— Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (@gillibrandny) April 25, 2023
That initial union vote, conducted on the grounds of Storm King, excluded visitor services staff following a ruling by the NLRB that those workers were security guards and should therefore be in a separate bargaining unit. The union appealed and visitor services workers, who do not have the New York State security guard license, were able to participate in an online vote at ElectionBuddy.com. The measure was adopted by a qualified majority.
The organizing efforts had begun with visitor services staff, who earn just $17.50 an hour and work without paid time off on days when office staff get paid time off.
“For visitor services, we don’t have time off,” said department employee Amber Bowen. Cornwall Local at the end of last year. “We don’t have health, dental or vision insurance. The only time off we get is mandated by New York State: one hour for every 30 hours worked. For full-time staff, they want minimum working hours laws and not being forced to come just an hour, especially since some drive an hour to get to work.
The goals of the newly recognized union include improved wages and benefits, especially for those in part-time or “seasonal” positions, stable hours and improvements in workplace safety and health, among others.
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