PMA Union Strike Hits Week Milestone
The PMA Union hits the week milestone on its strike for a contract on Sunday, 2 October. The employees at the Philadelphia Museum of Art have been working without a contract for two years. Hump Day News previously reported on the one-day warning strike organized on September 16th. With no movement in contract talks, union members voted to strike with a 99% majority.
The workforce of the PMA union elected to form their union two years ago in affiliation with Local 397, part of AFSCME District Council 47. Since then the executive leadership at the Museum has followed a similar playbook used by other organizations facing union drives like Starbucks, Chipotle, and Trader Joe’s: distract, delay, and never negotiate in good faith.
Comparable negotiations, such as the MFA Boston Union, lasted 18 months. A long time, to be sure, but there was light at the end of the tunnel. Two years in, the PMA Union is still waiting for the Museum leadership to join them in earnest at the negotiating table.
Enjoy some photos of the ongoing strike, collected from PMA Union’s Twitter. Shout out to Scabby, Fat Cat, other unions, the DSA, and more showing solidarity with the strikers standing up for their right to fair compensation and a better workplace.
Two words: “we won.”