On Tuesday, 30 August the Philadelphia Museum of Art Union (PMA) voted to authorize a strike with an overwhelming supermajority of 99% of its voting membership. The strike authorization comes almost two years after the museum workforce voted 181-22 to establish a union, affiliating with Local 397, part of AFSCME District Council 47. Since that time no contract has yet been ratified, despite protracted negotiations.

The union alleges the Museum is dragging its heels and engaging in union-busting strategies. The PMA formalized the complaint on Friday, 26 August, filing eight Unfair Labor Practices charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

Via the 8/30 PMA press release:

In our Unfair Labor Practice charge, we allege that museum management has committed eight different violations of federal labor law and engaged in union-busting during these nearly two years of negotiations.

Meanwhile, at the bargaining table, museum management has repeatedly failed to make reasonable offers on wages, healthcare, paid parental leave, or use of temporary and fixed-term employees.

WHYY elaborates on the nature of a few violations:

“The union alleges the museum has violated federal labor law, accusing management of replacing full-time staff positions with temporary positions, which reduces the size of the union’s bargaining unit…

“Other charges filed against museum management with the NLRB claim the museum is misrepresenting contract negotiations in its internal, all-staff emails.”

And the PhillyVoice spoke with Local 397 board member at-large Matt Carreiri regarding the Museum’s bad faith negotiation practices:

"During negotiations, we have presented research showing how low pay is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art compared to other art museums nationally, and especially compared to our peer institutions," said Matt Carreiri, museum gallery maintenance technician and Local 397 executive board member at-large. "Museum management has not argued that they cannot afford the improvements we are proposing; they have simply rejected them. When good faith negotiation on our part is met with unfair labor practices and rejection again and again, we have no choice but to prepare to take the action away from the bargaining table." 

A spokesperson for the Museum responded to the strike authorization, via PhillyVoice:

"The museum was disappointed to learn of the union's vote to authorize a strike," a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Museum of Art told PhillyVoice. "We value our staff and have always respected their right to organize and participate in the union. Accordingly, our museum has been bargaining in good faith with the union, and we remain committed to working toward a fair and appropriate collective bargaining agreement.” 

Industry observers, however, note that 22 months of negotiations without substantive progress is abnormal. Compare with the 18 months that it took for the MFA Boston union to finally ratify its contract.

With no end in sight, the PMA is sounding alarm bells. While the length of negotiations can vary according to case-specific factors, it’s a known tactic among management to stall talks to halt union momentum. And the eight Unfair Labor Practices charges filed by the PMA with the NLRB are a clear indication that the Museum has not been idle during this time, actively pursuing strategies to undercut the union’s leverage. 

No tentative date for the authorized strike has been established as of the end of August. The union will likely feel out the Museum response to strike authorization before scheduling any action. Stay tuned as this story develops.