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Hundreds of employees at the Metropolitan Museum of Art have voted to unionize, marking one of the largest organizing victories at a cultural institution in the country.
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According to the United Auto Workers (UAW), Met staff voted by a 76 percent margin to join UAW Local 2110, with 542 votes in favor and 172 against. The election was overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.An additional 100 ballots remain sealed after the museum challenged the eligibility of certain staff members. The status of those positions will be determined through an arbitration process following the union’s official certification. The bargaining unit could ultimately represent nearly 900 employees — roughly half of the museum’s workforce, according to reporting by The New York Times.
Workers across dozens of departments participated in the organizing effort, which has been underway for more than four years. The proposed union includes curators, conservators, librarians, retail staff, archivists, IT workers, visitor experience coordinators, development officers, and more.
“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.”
Workers say the campaign was driven by concerns about job security, pay equity, workloads, and transparency around employment policies.
“We won because we were able to convince our colleagues that they don’t have to accept whatever is offered to them,” said Rebecca Capua, a conservator who has worked at the museum for 16 years. “Their experience and hard work has earned them a seat at the table.”
In a statement to The New York Times, Met officials defended current compensation practices, saying the museum offers “highly competitive salaries and benefit packages that surpass industry standards.” The museum also stated that more than 600 of its nearly 2,000 employees earn over $100,000 annually, and that salaries have increased by an average of 4 percent each year over the past five years.
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Despite those claims, staff members publicly voiced concerns in the lead-up to the vote. In a letter circulated internally and later posted on social media, employees wrote: “We hear praise for our work at staff meetings, but we feel the daily strain of huge workloads… without collective bargaining, our power over our own working conditions is illusory.”UAW Local 2110 already represents workers at numerous major cultural institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim, Whitney Museum, Jewish Museum, New-York Historical Society, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Film at Lincoln Center, and others.
“There is no stronger feeling of solidarity than working together with my colleagues to establish our union,” said Tiffany Camusci, a data analyst at the Met.
“This historic victory happened because Met staff across departments came together,” added Jonathan Farbowitz, a conservator.
Union leaders say the next step will be negotiating a first contract.
“Unionizing with UAW Local 2110 is only our first step,” said Alison Clark, a collections manager in Asian art who has worked at the museum for over 20 years. “We look forward to negotiating a fair and equitable contract that reflects staff needs and priorities.”
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