Boston's Museum Of Fine Arts Workers Vote For One-Day Strike

BOSTON, MA — One year after forming a union, workers at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) voted to hold a one-day strike next week after they say management has failed to bargain in good faith on several issues, according to The Hill.

On social media Thursday, the union said its members had "voted overwhelmingly" for a one-day strike on Wednesday of next week.

The group represents curators, conservators, library workers, public-facing staff, educators and administrative and professional workers, the Hill reported.

Eve Mayberger, a member of the union's bargaining team, told the Boston Globe that the union had brought up issues like diversity, pay, job growth, safety and union membership requirements during negotiations with management. However, little progress has been made in seven months of negotiations.

"Management has not really engaged with most of these issues and are coming back with very mild adjustments," Mayberger said. "It's ... interesting to think about how many hours we have spent talking about it and how far apart we still are."

Mayberger continued: "(The workers have) general concerns about, 'How do we live in Boston?' You read these reports coming out daily of 6 percent inflation rates, and we've already had a salary freeze for the past few years. It's every day, the practicality becomes more challenging for our members."

According to The Hill, the museum did contact the union after the strike announcement, and Mayberger said she hopes the two parties can come to an agreement.

"We are eager to work with the museum to come to a point of consensus with these negotiations, but we do feel like they need to listen to the workers who are in the building every day, and those people who are still working remotely, and try to come to ... a fair and equitable contract."

In November 2020, the museum staff voted 133 to 14 to unionize, joining the United Auto Workers' Union (UAW), which also hosts staffers at the Museum of Modern Art and New Museum in New York, according to Artnet News.

The Hill said it reached out to the MFA for a comment, but had not yet received a response.