Nearly two years after staff members at the Brooklyn Museum unionized and began to negotiate a new contract, an agreement has still not been reached.
Museum officials made a final offer to the union in June, which members of the Brooklyn Museum Union rejected. The museum's contract offer consisted of a 5% raise, effective from July 1, with a smaller percentage for back pay covering the first half of the year. The proposal outlined a subsequent annual increase of 3% until 2027.
The museum management set a firm deadline of June 30 for the bargaining unit to approve this contract. However, the union, representing approximately 130 members, did not accept the new contract and requested an across-the-board wage increase of 16.25% over the next three and a half years. While contract negotiations proceed, union members have accepted the raises in the meantime, which kicked in on July 1.
Union members said the Museum's offer falls significantly short of what workers at comparable New York institutions — like the Whitney Museum and the Bronx Museum — have achieved through contract negotiations.
"There has been a wave of museum organizing nationally, and this actually started pre-pandemic in response to constant wage compression at the bottom while leaders of art institutions are earning so much more at the top," said Maida Rosenstein, president of Local 2110 of the United Automobile Workers union and acting chief negotiator of the Brooklyn Museum Union.
"People turn to unionization as a way to find mutual support in the face of bad representation and in working environments that value none of their skill," Rosenstein said.
Union workers have demonstrated twice outside the museum during high-profile events, including the Brooklyn Artists Ball in April, which reportedly raised $2.8 million in funds for the institution.
"It is all very ironic because our members work very hard on these shows and the exhibitions themselves. For the Artist Ball, staff was heavily involved in fundraising for such a large high-profile events and the reality is the exhibition itself does not happen without the staff," said Rosenstein. "And the staff are very proud of their work on these programs. But, what is dismaying is the lack of recognition on a basic economic level and in understanding just how important staff members are to the museum's daily operations."
"We have an interim agreement that granted people raises this July to get some money their pockets in the meantime, but we have not agreed on any contact," said Rosenstein. "Both sides retain all their rights to continue bargaining and our members have conducted a strike authorization vote that grants the bargaining committee the power to set a strike deadline if that becomes necessary."
The recent strikes in the entertainment industry signal workers' determination to demand improved conditions and livable wages, Rosenstein said.
"There is a huge uptick in strikes that shows a bite-back we haven't seen in decades and has been generated by massive waves of inequality,” Rosenstein said.
“We see everywhere billionaires becoming richer while the rest of us continue to struggle to live," she said. "People do not go on strike because there is a strike wave. They go on strike because of the particulars and right now the particulars are unlivable for everyone but the people on top."
Members of the Brooklyn Museum Union continue to actively work alongside museum admin to arrive at a fair agreement, Rosenstein said.
