Staff at Hispanic Society Museum and Library in New York City have been on strike since March 27, with union members, their United Auto Workers (UAW) representatives and local lawmakers joining the picket line at the institution’s campus in Washington Heights.
The strike comes as members of the museum’s union, which formed as part of UAW Local 2110 in 2021, seek to reach an agreement with museum trustees on their first-ever contract. The timing is particularly significant as the Hispanic Society Museum, which houses a world-class collection of art from Spain, Portugal and their former colonies in the Americas, was due to reopen on April 6 after a six-year closure for d major renovations.
That reopening has now been delayed until an unspecified date this spring, due to the strike and other delays, a Hispanic Society spokesperson said. “In addition to the current situation, there have also been construction delays, the most critical of which is a delay in the [Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant] ramp that will provide visitors with accessible access to the main building,” the spokesperson said.
The strike was allowed in a vote on March 21 with a 78% majority. Workers at the institution first came together in 2021 after the administration scrapped pensions. Over the past two years, the union has filed four unfair labor practice complaints against the museum with the National Labor Review Board (NLRB). Nevertheless, John O’Neill, a curator at the Hispanic Society and a member of the bargaining committee, says the strike “went pretty well” and that worker morale was good.
In February, staff issued a open letter to the school’s board of directors, led by Philippe de Montebello, former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The letter described issues such as a lack of staff which workers say makes it difficult to properly maintain and safeguard the collection, concerns over recent administrative appointments, difficult working conditions and an unclear track record. for the reopening of the museum building. (During renovations, the Hispanic Society Library remained open and held temporary exhibits.)
Museum staff are also calling for better medical coverage, including asking the museum to cover the cost of insurance premiums, which it has done in the past.
A Hispanic Society Museum & Library employee on the picket line Courtesy of UAW Local 2110
“We tried to negotiate a contract for over a year, and negotiations really broke down on health benefits,” said Maida Rosenstein, organizing director for UAW Local 2110. beginning. They hired [the law firm Epstein Becker & Green] and they waged an anti-union campaign, but it didn’t work. People voted to form a union.
The museum’s most recent offer would require staff to pay their own healthcare premiums and deductibles. Salaries would increase but, according to Rosenstein, not enough to cover the increased health care costs.
“The salaries are not high, and you talk about long-term professionals, curators, curators, librarians, etc. and they earn very little money, what has sustained them are the benefits,” said said Rosenstein.
“One of the last things we need to agree on is health insurance,” a Hispanic Society spokesperson said in a statement. “The Hispanic Society has put forward a proposal that employees would be asked to cover between 2.5% and 12.5% of the premium, depending on their income. The union insists that the Company pay 100% of the cost of health care premiums and deductibles. This union has contracts with other museums in the city where employees contribute to the cost of medical coverage.
Members of the union’s bargaining committee and administration met earlier this week for a nine-hour bargaining session, but at the time of this writing, no resolution has been reached. “The lines aren’t clearly defined where we are,” O’Neill said.
The contract currently being offered by the administration, according to the spokesperson for the Hispanic Society, includes a $4,000 signing bonus for new hires, retroactive 5% salary increases, guaranteed future salary increases, “Competitive health and pension benefits, including Company-guaranteed contributions, as well as generous vacation time – up to five weeks depending on seniority. Additionally, the proposal includes a guaranteed minimum wage for all unionized positions, ranging from a minimum wage of $52,000 to a minimum wage of $95,000 depending on the role.
