NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A three-week strike by unionized staff of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art has ended with a contract agreed on Tuesday by both sides. 

 

Members of UAW Local 2110 voted Tuesday evening to ratify an agreement that will settle wages for the next two years. 

 

"We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with the Mass MoCA that raises minimum pay rates and improves working conditions," according to statement from the local. "We are looking forward to getting back to the jobs we love."

 

The contract includes an immediate minimum wage increase to $18 an hour for some 58 percent of the workers, up from $16.25. 

 

The new wages are retroactive to Jan. 1; the union had asked for retroactive wages to October 2023, when talks first began.

 

Full-time staff will receive general wage increases of 3.5 percent in each of the two years, and some workers will receive additional equity increases based on seniority and level of responsibility, according to the UAW. The average pay will increase by 12.1 percent in the second year. 

 

The new contract also includes additional holiday pay and establishes overtime pay for any shifts that last over 10 hours in a day. 

 

The union, which represents about 125 employees of the museum, went on strike March 6 after five months of talks.

 

Workers had been outside the museum with signs for weeks as management and volunteers tried to operate the largest contemporary museum in the United States. The strike had affected attendance and restaurants and shops on the sprawling campus. 

 

"Equity and wage increases for Mass MoCA's staff have never been a matter of if, but a matter of how fast," said Director Kristy Edmunds. "The agreement marks another bold precedent that both the union and Mass MoCA desired and worked together to achieve — Mass MoCA's minimum wage will jump to $18 an hour in addition to numerous wage and equity increases. 

 

"Our goal was shared, but our constraints and communication efforts for getting there differed. In our last bargaining session on Sunday, there was authentic, productive cooperation and clarity, which enabled all parties to agree."

 

The union had been advocating for $18.25 an hour minimum; the museum had most recently counter offered with $17.25, which the union rejected last week. 

 

The agreement comes after eight collective bargaining sessions focused solely on employee wages.

 

The strain had led museum officials to announce the closure of the museum on Wednesdays through April in addition to the regular Tuesday closure.

 

Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Union, Local 2110, part of the United Auto Workers, represents more than 3,000 employees in the education, creative, publishing and law fields. 

 

MoCA hourly workers joined the local in 2021 and held a one-day strike back in 2022 over wages. Organizing at museums and other nonprofit "creative economy" institutions has been on the upswing following the pandemic, rising prices and stagnant wages.