MASS MoCA staff have spent four months negotiating for livable wages to no avail. Poised to strike, unionized workers have given the museum until March 6 to increase wages.
The majority of workers set to strike are currently earning $16.25 per hour, an amount negotiated in 2022. Their annual salary is $43,600, exactly $4,400 less than the average annual expenses for a single adult with no children in Berkshire County, Massachusetts according to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator. The necessary minimum hourly wage to meet this salary is $21.83.
The 2022 wage increase resulted from a one day strike when employees first unionized. August 19, 2022 MASS MoCA workers filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the museum of “bad-faith bargaining.” They followed this up with a complaint to OSHA in November 2023, claiming museum staff had been asked to remove asbestos contaminated floor tiles without appropriate training or equipment.
MASS MoCA rejected workers’ request for wage increase. The union sought a retroactive raise to $18.25 per hour from October 2023, with an additional 4.5% increase for 2024. The museum cited a potential $150,000 budget increase requirement to meet this demand when emailing their rejection.
MASS MoCA instead offered their “highest offer to date,” a retroactive raise of 3.5% from January 1, 2024 for all salaries and a new minimum hourly wage of $17.25. In a statement to Hyperallergic, Museum Director Kristy Edmunds said, “[we] 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.
Still, the museum plans to operate as normal in the event of a strike.
Claiming an inability to pay living wages highlights both the sad state of museum funding in the United States and the lengths institutions will go to save money. The fallout from this strike at MASS MoCA is yet to be seen. However, this strike has more eyes on it than that of 2022. MASS MoCA’s public perception and daily operations will be undoubtably altered.
Ultimately, the United States is long way from livable wages and proper funding for the arts, two ideas that are screaming to be made priority.
