In a July 14 election conducted by the American Arbitration Workers, employees of the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) voted 89 to 29 (with 22 abstentions) in favor of forming a union. In doing so, they joined their peers at many arts institutions across the country who have unionized in recent years as the Covid-19 crisis and the murder of George Floyd and subsequent global calls for racial equality sparked important conversations about treatment personnel should expect from their employers. BMA workers first announced their desire to unionize in the fall of 2021, and acted quickly thereafter.

The Baltimore Museum of Art Union will operate under the umbrella of Local Council 67 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents government employees, teachers and medical personnel in Maryland. The new union will include retail staff, restaurateurs, curators, security guards, facility workers, marketers, installers, educators and others in its ranks. Like their colleagues in institutions nationwide, BMA workers highlighted issues of pay equity, precarious shifts, job opportunities, and health and safety as galvanizing concerns.

The Baltimore Museum of Art has had a particularly tumultuous few years, having seen its director, Christopher Bedford, leave to lead the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art after withstanding a kerfuffle over BMA plans to hand over the work of famous white male artists partly in order to fund purchases of works by women and artists of color. BMA acting directors Christine Dietze and Asma Naeem acknowledged in a joint statement that they “respect the outcome of the election and the decision of our staff to unionise”.

“I am incredibly proud of the BMA workers and my friends at AFSCME for a successful union election today,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement. “Coming from a unionized home, I know the power and agency that joining a union gives workers. I’m glad more residents can take advantage of these benefits. »

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