The workers at the Hispanic Society Museum and Library voted on Friday (May 19) to ratify their first contract, ending one of New York’s longest museum strikes in years. Workers at the Washington Heights settlement, who had been on strike for eight weekswere back to work as usual on Monday.
John O’Neill, curator at the Hispanic Society and member of the negotiating committee, describes the mood today as “optimistic”, adding: “It’s just camaraderie among the staff – at least among the staff. of the union. And that always leads to good working environments. So we are very happy to be back.
The strike began March 27 and is among the longest in the cultural heritage sector in the United States in the past five years. It garnered support from members of the New York City Council as well as the Society for Iberian Global Art, which published a open letter calling for an end to the strike at the end of last month. Union members and the management of the Hispanic Society had not had a bargaining session for more than a month until last Monday (May 15), when an agreement was finally reached during a bargaining session eight hours.
The strike “showed [the institution’s leaders] solidarity among union members, and it showed them that commitment that we stood out in the rain, we stood out in the scorching sun,” says O’Neill. “We were all losing money on our salaries. I don’t think they expected the level of solidarity among the workers.
One of the main stumbling blocks in the negotiations concerned health care: before the contract which was ratified on Friday, the offers of the museum leaders included salary increases but had not wanted to give in to the demands of the workers concerning the medical cover. “We got almost everything we asked for,” says O’Neill. “We got entry-level minimum wages, which we never got, so we’re happy with that, and we’ve maintained our medical benefits.”
The new contract gives workers an 18% wage increase, as well as the creation of a new 403(b) retirement plan and fully paid health benefits. The contract also includes severance pay and professional development funds of up to $500 per year per worker, among other features. In terms of health coverage, current employees retain all existing benefits and are fully covered. Employees hired after May 1, depending on their pay grade, will have all or most of their benefits covered – 100% of their deductible and between 85% and 100% of their bonus, depending on salary.
“We are very happy to have been able to settle the contract. We look forward to building better relationships with Hispanic society,” said Maida Rosenstein, director of organizing for United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2110, which represented the workers. since 2021. “We hope that we can take advantage of this next period to really move forward and improve the quality of communication between management and workers.” She adds that a UAW strike fund helped pay compensation to striking Hispanic Society workers, who were also able to apply for unemployment benefits after two weeks.
The strike began just as the Hispanic Society planned to reopen its museum in early April after a six-year closure for renovations. A spokesperson for the institution did not respond to a request for comment or share a new timeline for the museum’s reopening.
