Overview
- Unionized employees at the Brooklyn Museum, the American Folk Art Museum, and the Whitney voted to authorize strike action and empowered their bargaining committees to call a strike if contract offers are unsatisfactory, a move announced on Tuesday, September 15.
- No strike date has been set as negotiations continue, but unions reserved the option to set deadlines tied to each museum’s major exhibitions opening in early October.
- Local 2110 UAW is demanding minimum pay increases to approach the NYC True Cost of Living measure of about $71,000 a year, or roughly $34 an hour, noting many front‑line staff earn far less.
- Museum spokespeople said they are bargaining in good faith and seek a fair contract while unions point to recent episodes like the Brooklyn Museum’s proposed 2025 layoffs that were reversed after a $2.5 million City Council grant.
- The vote follows a broader organizing trend in New York museums, including the Guggenheim’s June strike authorization, and spotlights tensions between low front‑line pay and much higher executive salaries.