NORTH ADAMS, Mass — Unionized employees at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art say they will go on strike starting Wednesday, March 6, if no agreement on wages is reached by then.

 

Employees will begin picketing the museum starting 8 a.m. and will picket daily until an agreement is reached.  

 

The employees' union, part of Local 2110 UAW, was formed in April 2021. After a one-day strike in August 2022, employees reached an agreement on a first contract that allowed them to re-open the agreement the following October to negotiate further wage increases. Negotiations on the wage reopener have been ongoing for four months but no agreement has been reached. 

 

According to the local, 58 percent of the 120 employees are earning $16.25 per hour. Average pay for full-time employees is $43,600. Using The Economic Policy Institute's family budget calculator, the union says a single individual with no children needs to earn approximately $47,000 per year to live in the Berkshires while a family of four needs about $118,000. The union is seeking to raise the hourly minimum rate to $18.25 back to October 2023 and a minimum 4.5 percent increase this year. 

 

Mass MoCA sent out a March 1 email to union members stating: "The Museum cannot agree to terms that will diminish our mission or operational sustainability, upend vital partnerships, reduce our programs, or fundamentally change our creative workplace culture. Simply put, Mass MoCA has been and will continue to be moved to adopt proposals that are balanced, fair, sustainable, and honest."

 

The union says the difference between its and the museum's base wage proposal is an additional $150,000 for this year, and that workers need the money just to make ends meet. Moreover, the union asserts that the museum has increased the number of higher-paid management positions at the expense of the unionized staff.

 

"Mass MoCA seems out of touch with our needs and concerns as employees," said Meg Labbee, a 25-year employee who works in Artists Services. "They say the arts and artists come first but they need to show some regard for the people who work here. We love the work but we deserve respect and fair conditions."

 

In 2022, during initial contract bargaining, the union filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board over the museum's bargaining, and employees engaged in a one-day strike. Then, this past November, the union filed a complaint against the museum with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) when the museum ordered workers to remove flooring contaminated with loose asbestos without proper equipment or training. 

 

OSHA has since issued test results confirming the presence of asbestos, cited necessary corrections to the museum and is conducting an ongoing investigation. 

 

The bargaining unit includes educators, curators, custodians, museum attendants, box office staff, art fabricators, technicians, and other administrative and professional staff. UAW Local 2110 is a technical, office and professional union that represents many museums and cultural institutions in the northeast including the Museum of Modern Art, the MFA, Boston, the Portland Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.