Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) employees announce unionization effort
Los Angeles County Museum of Art employees formed a union with the AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council. 36
Workers leading the effort say their wages haven’t kept pace with rising costs of living and employees need greater long-term stability. They also called for “fairer compensation, expanded benefits and greater transparency of agency protocols and resources,” according to a news release.
The letter, dated Oct. 29, was addressed to “our colleagues, executive team and board of directors.” LACMA United said in the letter that a “vast majority of qualified employees across departments” have come together to unionize. LACMA United has asked the museum’s executive team and board of directors to voluntarily recognize the alliance by November 5.
“Museum leadership has received the letter from LACMA United,” LACMA director Michael Govan said in a statement. art news. “We are reviewing this carefully and very much look forward to continuing to support our fantastic employees.”
The union’s efforts come ahead of the scheduled opening of LACMA’s new Peter Zumthor-designed building next April. The new building, formally known as the David Geffen Gallery, will see the museum radically rethink the installations in its permanent collection, with works from different periods and around the world being displayed together.
“We celebrate the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s reimagining of the encyclopedic museum, presenting a more connected and inclusive narrative of artistic expression,” the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Wing wrote in the letter. “As the museum evolves, we believe this vision should go beyond rethinking the hierarchy of presentation and prioritize those who make its mission a reality—from the staff who care for the collection and develop exhibitions to the people who maintain the museum’s infrastructure and interact with audiences every day.”
The letter also reads: “In the world’s sixth most expensive city, many employees’ wages have not kept pace with rising costs of living. Meanwhile, employees in nearly every department continue to take on expanded responsibilities and workloads, often without additional compensation, due to high turnover, limited resources, and vacant or frozen positions.”
In a press release, several current LACMA employees made the case for joining the union effort. Scope of evaluation includes members of the curatorial and collection management departments, members of the education, visitor services and publishing departments, preparatory staff, exhibition designers and registration staff.
“Having our union will ensure that we all have the resources and respect to continue to produce the best work possible as the museum grows,” said Sara Cody, who has worked in the publishing department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for nearly 25 years and is now a senior publications editor.
Aurora van Zoelen Cortés, a curatorial assistant in the museum’s contemporary art department, cited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s recent exhibition focusing on activism, including labor activism, as a reason to join the organization. “The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has a rich history of exhibiting artists depicting revolutionary, social and labor movements, and recognition of the Los Angeles County Association of Art Museums will be an extension of those values,” Cortez said.
AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36 has assisted in union efforts at other Los Angeles museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Motion Picture Academy Museum and Foundation, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and the La Brea Tar Pits.
The larger AFSCME Federation of Cultural Workers represents staff at museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Frost Museum of Art in Miami, the Brooklyn Museum, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In a press release, Charline Nacion, LACMA’s mobility programs coordinator, added: “Supporting unions means supporting people! Supporting cultural workers within our institutions means supporting the communities we serve.”
