With spring fundraising season in full swing at New York nonprofits, the Whitney Museum of American Art held its annual gala on 19 May, honouring the artist Julie Mehretu, the philanthropist Fern Kaye Tessler and the museum’s former director Adam D. Weinberg. As guests arrived at the museum, unionised members of its staff gathered outside to distribute flyers, buttons and signs in support of a new labour contract.
One sign read, “We love fair contracts”, while blue, red and yellow handouts thanked attendees for their “solidarity with the Whitney Union UAW Local 2110”. Several attendees stopped to take pins and informational materials as they entered the event, while others paused to briefly speak with workers gathered outside the museum before heading inside for the evening’s festivities.
Workers at the Whitney who are members of UAW Local 2110 are negotiating their second contract since the museum voluntarily recognised the union in June 2021. It took 16 months to negotiate the first contract, which was ratified in March 2023 and expires next month. The union represents around 185 workers at the museum across departments including education, curatorial, visitor services, conservation and administrative roles.
The action on 19 May was organised to draw greater visibility to the bargaining process. According to a statement shared on the union’s social media accounts, members had planned to “peacefully” distribute leaflets and buttons outside the museum during the fundraiser. The union also claimed that what it described as police barricades were placed along the front of the museum property on Gansevoort Street near the sidewalk, creating what organisers characterised as an antagonistic situation. Despite the unexpected barricades outside the fundraiser, union members say they were still able to engage directly with museum patrons, artists and supporters throughout the evening.
“The Whitney Museum and Local 2110 have entered into collective bargaining discussions to begin negotiating a new labour contract for our unionised staff,” a spokesperson for the museum wrote in a statement shared with The Art Newspaper. “We are committed to arriving at a fair, reasonable contract that respects the needs of all parties.”
Actions staged during high-profile museum events have been a popular strategy for cultural workers seeking to bring public attention to contract negotiations, workplace concerns and other issues, particularly as institutions rely heavily on donor-facing events and fundraising campaigns. Four years ago, members of UAW Local 2110 at the Whitney staged a similar protest outside its spring fundraising gala.
Under the terms of the first contract, workers earning the museum’s previous minimum hourly wage of $17 saw their pay rise to $22 per hour retroactive to 1 January 2023, with wages scheduled to increase again to $24 per hour by June 2025. Minimum pay rates also increased across the museum’s five salary bands. According to the union, workers received an average compensation increase of around 15% overall, in addition to $1,000 signing bonuses and cumulative raises totalling 9.5% over the course of the contract. The agreement was widely viewed by organisers as a significant milestone in museum labour organising efforts in New York, particularly as unions have continued to expand across arts institutions nationwide.
