SEATTLE – Workers at the Seattle Art Museum are forming a union with AFSCME, another victory for our union’s Cultural Workers United campaign.
Nearly 140 workers are forming Seattle Art Museum Workers United as part of WFSE/AFSCME Council 28.
Workers delivered a letter to museum management on May 13 announcing their intent to unionize before rallying outside the museum. They requested voluntary recognition of their union.
At the rally, workers were joined by allies from Tacoma Art Museum Workers United, Washington State Labor Council President April Sims and WFSE Vice President Ashley Fueston. The workers announced that they have also filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board should the museum refuse to voluntarily recognize their union.
In their letter, workers wrote that they are unionizing to have a voice on the job and representation in the decision-making processes at the museum, as well as to fight for sustainable wages and health benefits.
Drew Davis, an art handler at SAM involved in the organizing drive, shared his reasons for unionizing.
“I'm forming a union because no one did it before me,” Davis said. “I want the protections that it guarantees. I want the stability that it can guarantee. I want to live and work and have a family in Seattle. And I shouldn't have to sacrifice doing the important work of making art.”
The workers said that forming their union is “a movement to improve working conditions in alignment with SAM’s mission, vision and core values.”
Jenny Woods, an installation design and registration specialist, echoes this commitment to improving the museum: “I'm fighting for a union because I want to make SAM a better place for all workers, where we're treated with the respect that we deserve.”
The organizing drive at Seattle Art Museum follows a national wave of cultural workers unionizing through AFSCME Cultural Workers United. This includes their peers at the nearby Tacoma Art Museum, also organized under WFSE, where workers secured their first union contract last year.