Walters Art Museum Workers Take to the Street for Union Recognition

Walters Art Museum Workers demand Union Recognition and respect for staff in a street protest rally that brings attention to workers concerns.

BY ARTCENTRON

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND– Walters Art Museum workers will take to the street Thursday, August 12, to rally for respect and union recognition.  The workers want the museum to meet with Walters Workers United and proceed with a fair and inclusive process for union recognition. The workers have been demanding recognition of their union since April 30, when they secured supermajority support for a union.  Shortly after announcing their organizing efforts, the workers communicated with the museum management, which was unreceptive. Management’s refusal to voluntarily recognize their union or agree to an election process that would keep the 100-person-workforce together forced the workers to take their demands public.  

Walters Workers United was formed by Staff at the Walters Museum with the objective of creating a platform to address workers’ concerns, such as poor communication and transparency. The union also seeks to address a lack of job security, health and safety problems, and inequity in salary. Additionally, it will focus on opportunity and advancement at the museum. The concern of the Walters Art Museum workers is exemplified by a recent event.   In June, the museum failed to disclose a serious health and safety problem that made several workers sick and eventually forced the museum to shut down for three weeks.

Union Members complain about the maltreatment of staff and colleagues. “I care deeply about my colleagues, and I have seen them consistently devalued, forgotten, and mistreated. We are striving toward a workplace that protects all of us,” said Lex Reehill, a monitor room operator.  

Walters Art Museum workers believe that recognizing the union is the best way to address the problems employees are facing.  According to union members, “Over the past two months alone, around 10% of the 100-person workforce has left the museum for better jobs and better treatment elsewhere.”

Museum Workers Demand Union Recognition

This is not acceptable. “I have worked at the Walters for five years. I have seen many, many passionate, and hardworking people leave due to dissatisfaction, mistreatment, and pay inequity. A union will give us our voice back,” Reehill said.

Participants will gather at the intersection of East Centre Street and Washington Place at 5:30 p.m. They will then proceed to the Walters Art Museum.  The hope is that the rally will pressure Walters Management to stop delaying the group’s unionization efforts and finally recognize their union. Walters Art Museum workers say they are determined to ensure that Walters Art Museum, a city agency, fulfills its civic mission of bringing cultural and educational resources to the Baltimore community.

The demand for union recognition by Walters Art Museum workers follows a recent trend in museums across the country. In July, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum curators, conservators, editors, and other employees began the process of unionizing. Although the museum has promised to address the matter, it is uncertain what will happen next.