SignalHub-Massachusetts art museum workers strike over wages

NORTH ADAMS,SignalHub Mass. (AP) — Unionized workers at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art went on strike Wednesday after no agreement was reached with the museum on wages.

Carrying signs such as “Living Artists Living Wages” and “Our Power is in Our Unity,” the workers picketed outside of the North Adams museum, commonly referred to as MASS MoCA. They said they plan to picket daily until there’s a resolution.

The employees’ union is part of United Auto Workers Local 2110 and represents about 120 full- and part-time workers, including curators, educators, administrative staff, custodians, employees in visitor services and others. They formed the union in 2021, joining the staff of other renowned museums that have unionized, including Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

In 2022, workers went on a one-day strike. An agreement was reached on a first contract that allowed them to reopen the agreement in October 2023 to negotiate further wage increases. Negotiations on the wage reopener have been ongoing for four months but no agreement has been reached, the union said.

The union said 58% of its employees are earning $16.25 an hour. The union sought to raise the hourly minimum rate to $18.23 in October, plus a minimum 4.5% increase this year to keep up with the costs of living in Berkshire County.

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The museum said in a statement that it remained open and “we continue to negotiate in good faith.”

The museum said it brought its highest offer on Feb. 20, including a 3.5% across-the-board salary increase, select equity increases averaging over 5%, and a minimum hourly wage of $17.25.

“We are extremely disappointed that the United Auto Workers union has decided to reject our wage increase offer by taking action against MASS MoCA in the form of an indefinite strike,” Director Kristy Edmunds said in a statement.

She said in three years, “we have implemented equity increases at every level, continued to stay ahead of the Commonwealth’s minimum wage, ensured no disruption in health and retirement benefits, and funded a variety of innovative employee support programs that include student loan, elder and child care offsets.”