After more than two years of bargaining and a 12-day strike, Seattle Art Museum and its security guard union have reached a tentative contract agreement. The museum and the union announced the news Wednesday in a joint release. The union, which had been on strike since Nov. 29, has called off its work stoppage.
“Despite the many challenges we have faced since bargaining commenced over 28 months ago, the union remained steadfast in its commitment to securing a first contract that our members would be proud of,” the union said in the statement. Fifty-six of 59 VSO, visitor service officer, union members who voted opted to ratify the contract, which will go into effect the next pay period, beginning Dec. 22. (Two members abstained; one voted against approving the contract.)
The contract includes a wage increase from $21.68 to $23.25 per hour, taking effect for the first pay period after ratification. Lead and dispatch employees will earn $25 and $27 per hour, respectively. Union members will also receive a 4% wage increase at the start of 2025 followed by additional 4% increases in 2026 and 2027.
The contract also restores the pre-pandemic discretionary match program for employees’ retirement plans for the union as well as the entire museum staff.
The SAM VSO Union is a “union shop,” meaning new hires automatically join the union and pay dues. The 74 current VSOs can choose whether or not to join the union.
“While we did not secure all the improvements we had hoped for, the union was able to secure a number of wage and benefit improvements that went far beyond what SAM leadership initially offered,” the SAM VSO Union said.
“We fought and we won, and we are proud of that,” said union organizer Josh Davis.
In the joint news release, SAM director and CEO Scott Stulen thanked both bargaining teams for their time and effort.
“This contract addresses the unique working conditions of VSOs and the important services they provide, while maintaining our commitment to equity across the staff,” he said. “It’s also a critical step so we can continue our focus on making SAM a welcoming, inclusive and inspiring place for all our employees and guests.”
The SAM security staff formed a union in May 2022, joining a national movement of workers unionizing at major museums. The guards have been bargaining with the museum since August 2022. After voting to authorize a strike and rejecting SAM’s “last, best and final offer” earlier this fall, the union went on strike Nov. 29.
Contract talks were sometimes tense, with the parties accusing each other of bargaining in bad faith. And negotiations dragged on. At about 860 days, the negotiation period is among the longest on record for U.S. museums, according to data compiled by advocacy group Museums Moving Forward.
The average time to negotiate a first contract for private, nonprofit art museums is 558 days, or about a year and a half, according to the MMF data. That’s slightly longer than the estimated 500 days on average that it takes U.S. unions more broadly to ratify first contracts.
Strikes are less common: Only 17% of 59 museums in the MMF database, including SAM, have experienced union work stoppages. But they seem effective: Six out of eight unions that instituted or threatened a strike in recent years agreed to a contract in a matter of weeks.
Information from The Seattle Times archive was used in this report.
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