Labour disputes

California Institute of the Arts faculty and staff move to unionise

Grievances include changes to healthcare benefits, stagnant wages, layoffs and running the nonprofit arts college like a for-profit business

Art Gallery of Ontario to reopen after month-long strike as workers and leaders reach contract agreement

The Toronto museum had been closed since 26 March, when members of a union representing more than 400 employees went on strike

Unionised Guggenheim workers stage protests amid contract negotiations

Recent actions in front of and inside the Manhattan museum come as the workers are seeking their second contract since forming a union in 2019

Labournews

Mass Moca employees end three-week strike following dispute over wages

Unionised workers and museum officials have ratified a new deal that raises staff minimum wages to $18 per hour

Art Gallery of Ontario closes as more than 400 workers go on strike

The strike comes after a breakdown in negotiations between the workers’ union and museum administrators, and as the institution pursues a C$100m expansion

Philadelphia Museum of Art workers stage protest during all-staff meeting

Administrators and unionised workers at the institution remain at an impasse over the issue of longevity pay

Unionised University of the Arts faculty prepare to strike after more than two years of contract negotiations

Professors at the Philadelphia art school have been ramping up their attempts to move negotiations forward

Guggenheim Museum staff ratifies its first union contract

With 97% of the vote, museum employees signed their first union contract after two years at the bargaining table

Strike at New York's Hispanic Society ends after nearly two months

Workers at the museum ratified their first contract after many months of negotiations with leadership

Museumsanalysis

Changing institutional culture from the inside out: why more and more US museum workers are forming unions

Employees across the sector are turning to unions to fight for better wages, benefits and working conditions

Lessons from a museum picket line

As workers at US art institutions continue to organise, negotiate and, when necessary, go on strike, the most high-profile museum strike in years, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, continues to provide insights

‘Such folk are treated like shit’: artists urge University of the Arts London to improve cleaners' working conditions

Artists including Tai Shani, Larry Achiampong and Jade Montserrat sign an open letter asking the institution to bring outsourced cleaners in-house

Brooklyn Museum workers hold rally at fundraising gala

Members of the museum’s union, who have been in negotiations with administration over their first contract for more than a year, handed out leaflets to attendees arriving for the annual Artists Ball

Hundreds of RISD students walk out in support of striking university workers

Students and faculty at the top-ranked art and design university have been vocal in their support of custodial, moving and groundskeeping staff

9,000 workers on strike at Rutgers University, home to one of US’s top art schools

The Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers is one of the most prestigious university art programmes on the East Coast

Strike at New York’s Hispanic Society enters second week as museum pushes back long-planned reopening

Unionised workers at the institution in Upper Manhattan have been on strike since 27 March as negotiations over their first contract have stalled

Unionsnews

‘You can’t pay rent with prestige’: as contract negotiations drag on, unionised Guggenheim workers rally at exhibition openings

As museum members and supporters waited to enter opening celebrations for Gego and Sarah Sze shows, they were greeted by members of UAW Local 2110

Unionised Whitney Museum workers ratify their first contract after 16 months of negotiations

The deal means significant pay increases for hourly wage earners and salaried employees alike, and extends some benefits to temporary workers

Museums and heritage in 2022: industrial unrest, climate protests and damage to historic artefacts in Ukraine

New and refurbished museums open in Antwerp, Los Angeles and Sydney as Italian archaeologists make the "discovery of a generation" in a hilltop town in Tuscany

After 25 days, strike ends at New York’s New School and Parsons School of Design

The longest adjunct faculty strike to date in the US is over after instructors and administrators finally reached a tentative agreement on a new contract

Unionised workers file unfair labour charges against the Philadelphia Museum of Art

With contract negotiations well into their second year, the union claims the museum’s leadership has been “repeatedly interfering with employees’ rights”

Artist curator claims Art Toronto owes them back wages after unfair dismissal

When the fair went online-only during the pandemic last year, a planned section dedicated to queer and non-binary artists was cancelled

Oaxaca museum in Mexico is locked in standoff with private foundation

Director spends night inside as the institution’s funders fail to pay salaries