Nearly 1,000 salaried and hourly workers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art voted on Friday to join Local 2110 of the United Auto Workers (UAW), creating one of the nation’s largest museum unions.
The new union, approved by a vote of 542-172, comprises staff from across 50 departments at the Met, including curators, conservators, librarians, visitor experience coordinators, and archivists. According to a statement from Local 2110, roughly 100 ballots remain sealed due to a management challenge, which objected to their inclusion in the union. Whether they will ultimately join the union will be decided through “a mutually agreed upon arbitration process” after the union is officially certified by the National Labor Relations Board, the statement added. (Two separate, smaller unions already represented security guards and projectionists at the museum.)
A union drive had reportedly been brewing at the Met for more than four years before the election. Major concerns have included job security, pay equity, and greater transparency in institutional operations.
“I’ve worked at The Met for 31 years, and I truly love it, but our expertise and our labor have real value deserving of recognition,” said Stephanie Post, a digital archivist, in a statement. “By unionizing, we aren’t just protecting our own jobs—we are building a collective voice to ensure every staff member, now and in the future, gets the respect and protection they deserve.”
ARTnews has contacted the museum for comment.
“Over many decades, we have worked to develop a culture of inclusivity, collaboration, and creativity, and take every opportunity to uplift our employees,” Ann Bailis, a Met Museum spokesperson, previously told the New York Times. “We respect the right to seek union representation and are proud of our longstanding relationships with DC37 and Local 306 IATSE, which represent a large segment of our staff.”
Local 2110 represents workers across New York’s museums and cultural institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum, the New Museum, and the Shed. Momentum for unions and unionization efforts at art museums, cultural institutions, and art schools nationwide only intensified in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw cultural professionals across the country lose their livelihoods. Local 2110 UAW said that Met employees officially reached out in 2022.
”We won because we were able to convince our colleagues that they don’t have to accept whatever is offered to them, that their experience and hard work has earned them a seat at the table,” Rebecca Capua, a conservator who has worked at the Met for sixteen years, said.
