Whitney Museum union sets October 5 strike
Unionized staff at the Whitney Museum of American Art will strike on October 5 if no contract is reached, a move timed just before a major Roy Lichtenstein
Unionized workers at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York will strike on Monday, October 5, if a fair contract agreement is not reached. Their union, Local 2110 UAW, announced the date. Workers voted to authorize a strike in September. Negotiations for a second contract have been ongoing since early May, and no agreement has been reached.
The strike deadline is perilously close to the opening of a blockbuster Roy Lichtenstein retrospective. Press and member previews for the exhibition begin on October 8. The show opens to the public on October 11.
Union demands reflect New York City cost of living
Workers are seeking a base salary of at least $71,000 annually for full-time employees, equivalent to $34 per hour. This figure is based on the government's most recent True Cost of Living Measure Annual Report for a single, childless adult in New York City. The union says average wages for its members are below this estimate.
Derrick Charles, a Membership Associate and Union Chairperson who has worked at the museum since 2018, currently earns $24 an hour. That is $10 less per hour than the union's living wage target. In a statement, Charles said, “It’s not that we want to strike.”
Health care and broader pattern of action
Affordable healthcare is another key demand. Micah Musheno, a licensing manager with nine years at the museum, stated that employees with families pay 15-20% of health care premiums. This amounts to thousands of dollars annually. Workers at the Whitney, as well as those at the Brooklyn Museum and the American Folk Art Museum, voted earlier in September to approve strike action. All are seeking improved health care and pay that keeps pace with inflation and the city's high costs.
Contract history and museum response
The union's first contract, ratified in 2023 after 16 months of bargaining, covered approximately 200 workers and expired in June. It raised the wage floor from $17 per hour in 2023 to $22, with a final bump to $24 by 2025. A museum spokesperson stated that leadership continues bargaining in good faith and is committed to arriving at a fair, reasonable contract. Days before announcing the strike date, the union wrote on its Instagram that management was only offering “crumbs” despite months at the bargaining table.
Local 2110 UAW represents workers at other cultural institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It recently won union elections at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston and the Eric Carle Museum. If no agreement is reached by October 5, Whitney Museum unionized staff will begin a strike action that could disrupt member and press previews for the Roy Lichtenstein exhibition.
