American Folk Art Museum Workers Picket Gala, Calling for Higher Wages

"Workers at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City joined three dozen UAW Local 2110 organizers to picket the museum's annual gala at the Mandarin Oriental in Columbus Circle on Wednesday night, May 6, demanding higher wages and better benefits. Union members marched in front of the Upper West Side luxury hotel for two hours, holding signs that read, "For Folk's Sake" and "Self Taught, Not Self Funded" while chanting, "What's disgusting? Union busting! What's outrageous? Poverty wages!""

"Staffers say they were forced to take action after negotiations for a new contract remained stalled for nearly two years. "The museum can raise all the money it wants, but if it doesn't pay its workers fairly, then the museum can't function well," Eve Erickson, the museum's development associate for institutional giving, told Hyperallergic. "There's no art without the museum staff.""

"Workers have been bargaining with museum executives for higher minimum wages and benefits since shortly after they voted to join the UAW Local 2110 in June 2024. Frontline workers at the Columbus Avenue institution, who greet visitors, run the gift shop, and maintain the building, currently earn $19 per hour or $58,686 per year, about $12,000 below the living wage in New York City as calculated by MIT. Maintenance workers earn a similar rate at nearby art museums, including MoMA PS1, whose staff demonstrated for higher wages two years ago."

"(The American Folk Art museum's CEO Jason Busch earned $321,882 in compensation during the 2024 fiscal year, according to the museum's tax filings.)"

Workers at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City picketed the museum’s annual gala at the Mandarin Oriental in Manhattan, demanding higher wages and better benefits. Union members marched for two hours outside the luxury hotel, holding signs and chanting about union busting and poverty wages. Staff said they were forced to take action after negotiations for a new contract remained stalled for nearly two years. Workers have been bargaining since shortly after they voted to join UAW Local 2110 in June 2024. Frontline workers currently earn $19 per hour, about $12,000 below the living wage in New York City, while the museum’s CEO compensation was reported as $321,882 for the 2024 fiscal year.

Read at Hyperallergic