900 Met Museum Staff Vote Overwhelmingly to Unionize with UAW Local 2110

This week, staff of the Metropolitan Museum of Art voted by an overwhelming 76% margin in a National Labor Relations Board election to unionize with UAW Local 2110. 

Workers at the Museum had been organizing for over four years before the election, over concerns about job security, pay equity and greater transparency about employment policies. The 900-person unit is composed of staff across 50 different departments of the Museum and includes curators, conservators, librarians, sales specialists, visitor experience coordinators, development officers, archivists, digital and IT staff, and more.  

“Organizing with my Met colleagues was an incredible, galvanizing experience that I will never forget,” said Alison Clark, a Collections Manager in Asian Art who has worked at the Museum for over 20 years. “Unionizing with UAW Local 2110 is only our first step and we look forward to negotiating a fair and equitable contract that reflects staff needs and priorities.”

“I’ve worked at The Met for 31 years and I truly love it but our expertise and our labor have real value deserving of recognition,” said Stephanie Post, a Digital Archivist, “By unionizing, we aren't just protecting our own jobs—we are building a collective voice to ensure every staff member, now and in the future, gets the respect and protection they deserve.”

”We won because we were able to convince our colleagues that they don't have to accept whatever is offered to them, that their experience and hard work has earned them a seat at the table,” said Rebecca Capua, a conservator who has worked at the Museum for sixteen years.

Thousands of museum workers have organized since the pandemic. Local 2110 UAW already represents workers at multiple art museums and other cultural institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the MFA, Boston, the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Portland Museum of Art, MASS MoCA, the Hispanic Society Museum and Library, the New York Historical Society, the Shed, the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Tenement Museum, the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Film at Lincoln Center, Film Forum and Anthology Film Archives.

Follow @metunion for more information and updates. Congratulations and welcome to our newest UAW members in Region 9A!