Unionized workers at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in New York have authorized an indefinite strike beginning March 27. The action, which has been approved by 78% of members, comes as the institution prepares to reopen on April 6 after a six-year closure for renovations. Museum staff unionized in 2021, along with workers at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. While staff at both facilities have organized under the auspices of United Auto Workers Local 2110, contract ratification has been slow. The Whitney Union finally reached an agreement with management earlier this month, after sixteen months of negotiations. Staff at the Hispanic Society, who unionized after the museum’s board announced the end of the employee pension plan, continue to work without contracts.
“We are a small, dedicated team that has worked in challenging physical conditions with constant staff shortages,” Javier Milligan, librarian at the Hispanic Society, said in a statement. “We accepted lower wages than we could earn at other institutions because of benefits. The contract they’re offering makes our job really unsustainable.
According to a statement released by the union, management offered a contract requiring employees to cover the cost of health care premiums and deductibles that the institution previously paid. Although salary increases have been proposed, these will not make up for the gap caused by the new costs. Union members demanded raises of 5% in the first year of a three-year contract and 4% per year for the remaining two years. In addition to financial difficulties, the union cites management’s attempts to reduce its ranks, which number around 20, by falsely advertising jobs as temporary and therefore ineligible for union membership.
In a letter to management on February 3, the union denounced management’s decision to reopen on April 6 despite the fact that much of the collection remains off-site, on loan and despite the low staff, including the union claims to be responsible. “The decisions of the administration jeopardize its priceless treasures, from day-to-day management to long-term planning. The administration has failed to replace key collection maintenance personnel, such as curators, restorers and art managers, which places intolerable stress on those who protect the collection,” said Patrick Lenaghan, who worked as a curator at the Hispanic Society for twenty-eight years. years. “The company is putting its own valuable collection at risk: we are severely understaffed and our incredible collection is at risk due to a lack of proper safeguards.”
