Around 120 employees of the contemporary art museum are members of Local 2110 UAW after a unionization vote in April 2021.
“We've been in negotiations since October. It's been, frankly, a pretty slow and fairly tense negotiations, where management has really just barely inched in every proposal. I think all of this really to Josh has been, I think, colored by really divisive anti-union tactics that we feel we've seen over the past year through contract administration, from being fairly obstructionist in our grievance procedure, and by frankly, we think trying to go around the union at, you know, at every corner," said union spokesperson Chelsea Farrell. “All of that has really worked to color these negotiations. Looking at the numbers on the table, I think our members just feel that management’s offer, it doesn't keep pace with inflation, it doesn't keep pace with the raising rising cost of living in the Berkshire County and frankly, it's just not enough for the work folks are contributing to the institution.”
With a deadline set for Wednesday and the union and management at loggerheads, workers are likely to take to the picket line for an indefinite strike in an effort to dial up pressure on MASS MoCA’s leadership.
“If we are out there on Wednesday, we are calling for an all-day picket," Farrell told WAMC. "Folks are going to be out from eight to four o'clock in front of the museum. Beyond that, we are calling for a seven day a week picket starting as early as nine and going till three o'clock in the afternoon.”
The nascent union has already seen the dividends of direct action. In August 2022, a one-day strike ultimately led to the resolution of contraction negotiations.
“We want to see this settled," said Farrell. "Calling for a strike was really with a heavy heart of our bargaining committee. I think no one wanted to get to this point where we felt this was our only course of action. I think the union's proposal is fairly reasonable. I understand in the first year with our calculations that it's really only a difference of $150,000. We want to see a fair across the board increase and a fair minimum rate.”
In a statement to WAMC, MASS MoCA says as of February 20th, it had made an offer including “a 3.5% across-the-board salary increase, select equity increases averaging over 5%, and a minimum hourly wage of $17.25” retroactive to January 1st.
The union says in the interest of meeting a living wage for local workers, it wants a minimum wage of $18.25 and across-the-board salary increases of at least 4.5%.
“This is really a question of making things sustainable and livable for our members," said Farrell. "The average full-time rate at MASS MoCA is only $43,000 a year. We have folks who really struggle to get by, and we try to articulate this across the table, and unfortunately, it just hasn't moved them.”
Farrell says the stakes of the ongoing negotiations between workers and museum management are high, both locally and nationally.
“Most of our members are from North Adams, they’re from Adams, they're from the surrounding area, so the folks who are going out on strike, they are the community," she told WAMC. "That's the other thing at stake here- This isn't just about the wages here. By raising the wages at MASS MoCA, you do uplift the entire community. And I think that’s pivotal, that's important. But even further, I mean, it’s important to the field as a whole. You know, MASS MoCA is an institution that I think a lot of people look towards as a leader in the field for its exhibitions, for its festivals, and I think folks want MASS MoCA to do better by its workers. They want folks to be able to look at MASS MoCA as a leader for employment practices, as well. And frankly, they're just not there yet.”
For her part, museum director Kristy Edmunds said she is disappointed about the planned strike and says MASS MoCA won’t agree to terms “that will diminish our mission or operational sustainability, upend vital partnerships, reduce our programs, or fundamentally change our creative workplace culture.”
North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey tells WAMC she hopes the union and administration of MASS MoCA can come to an agreement quickly.
“I respect the right of the union to be able to strike and advocate for what they need," said Macksey. "But I am very hopeful that both the union and the administration can come to a good compromise and everyone can go back to work.”
MASS MoCA Director Kristy Edmunds' full statement:
“We are extremely disappointed that the United Auto Workers union has decided to take action against MASS MoCA in the form of an indefinite strike in response. MASS MoCA cannot agree to terms that will diminish our mission or operational sustainability, upend vital partnerships, reduce our programs, or fundamentally change our creative workplace culture. Simply put, MASS MoCA has been and will continue to be moved to adopt proposals that are balanced, fair, sustainable, and honest. As with everything we have faced as an organization, we will continue to build from it and become better because of it. We will remain open in service to our community and to the artists who entrust us.”
