Staff on the Hispanic Society Museum & Library voted on Friday (19 Might) to ratify their first contract, ending one in every of New York’s longest museum strikes lately. Staff on the Washington Heights establishment, who had been on strike for eight weeks, have been again to to work as regular on Monday.
John O’Neill, a curator on the Hispanic Society and member of the bargaining committee, describes the temper as we speak as “upbeat”, including, “It’s been simply camaraderie amongst the employees––not less than amongst the union employees. And that at all times results in good work environments. So we’re very comfortable to be again.”
The strike started on 27 March and is among the many longest within the cultural heritage sector within the US within the final 5 years. It garnered help from New York Metropolis Council members in addition to the Society for Iberian International Artwork, which launched an open letter calling for an finish to the strike late final month. Union members and the Hispanic Society’s management had not had a negotiation session for over a month earlier than final Monday (15 Might), when a deal was lastly hammered out throughout an eight-hour bargaining session.
The strike “confirmed [the institution’s leaders] a solidarity among the many union members, and it confirmed them that dedication that we stood out within the rain, we stood out within the blazing solar”, O’Neill says. “All of us have been dropping cash on our salaries. I don’t imagine that they have been anticipating the extent of solidarity among the many workforce.”
One of many predominant sticking factors in negotiations needed to do with healthcare: previous to the contract that was ratified on Friday, the museum leaders’ gives had included wage will increase however had been unwilling to budge on staff’ calls for relating to medical protection. “We obtained virtually the whole lot we requested for,” O’Neill says. “We obtained wage minimums for starters, which we by no means had so we’re comfortable about that, and we had our medical advantages continued.”
The brand new contract offers staff an 18% enhance in pay, in addition to creation of a brand new 403(b) retirement plan and absolutely paid well being advantages. The contract additionally consists of severance pay {and professional} growth funds of as much as $500 per yr per employee, amongst different options. By way of healthcare protection, present staff will retain all current advantages and are fully lined. Staff employed after 1 Might, relying on their pay grade, may have all or most of their advantages lined—100% of their deductible and between 85% and 100% of their premium, relying on wage.
“We’re more than happy that we have been capable of settle the contract. We look ahead to establishing higher relations with the Hispanic Society,” says Maida Rosenstein, the director of organising at United Auto Staff (UAW) Native 2110, which has represented the employees since 2021. “We hope that we’ll be capable of use this subsequent interval to actually transfer ahead and improve the standard of communication between administration and staff.” She provides {that a} UAW strike fund helped present fee to hanging Hispanic Society staff, who have been additionally capable of file for unemployment advantages after two weeks.
The strike started simply because the Hispanic Society was planning to reopen its museum in early April following a six-year closure for renovations. A spokesperson for the establishment didn’t reply to a request for remark or share a brand new timeline for the museum’s reopening.
