Museum Workers Unionize -Jacobin review article

 

A major unionization movement is underway at cultural institutions, with workers at over 30 museums across the US currently at various stages of organizing. Workers say prestige doesn’t make up for low pay, bad benefits, and toxic work conditions.

Museum Workers Are Tired of Being Paid in Cultural Cachet — So They’re Unionizing

by Anni Irish

It’s true that museums and galleries are under immense pressure, dealing with the fallout of COVID-19, rising inflation, and an international art market that is forever fluctuating. But at the center of it all remain the artists and workers who make the industry run. You cannot have art without artists, and museums and galleries without cultural workers to staff them. Systematic transformation of the industry is a long-term prospect, but unionization is the key to making change from the inside out.

Highlighted:

•  Guggenheim Museum in New York City
• Philadelphia Museum of Art