The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has declined to voluntarily recognize LACMA United, a newly formed union representing hundreds of museum staff members who voted to organize last week. Instead, museum leadership has chosen to pursue a National Labor Relations Board election, a decision that effectively delays the unionization process since NLRB elections are currently paused during the ongoing federal government shutdown.

In late October, LACMA employees from across multiple departments came together to form a union in partnership with AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36. The workers are demanding fair wages that keep pace with the rising cost of living in Los Angeles, which ranks as the sixth most expensive city in the world. They are also calling for long-term job security, better compensation packages, expanded employee benefits, and increased transparency in the museum's institutional protocols and resource allocation.

According to the union's letter to management, many LACMA employees are struggling financially as their wages have failed to keep up with the dramatically increasing cost of living in the area. The workers noted that staff members in virtually every department continue to take on expanded responsibilities and heavier workloads without receiving additional compensation. This situation has been worsened by high employee turnover rates, limited institutional resources, and numerous positions that have been left vacant or frozen by management.

Museum leadership was given until November 5 to respond to the union's request for voluntary recognition. The unionization effort comes at a particularly significant time for LACMA, as the institution prepares to open its highly anticipated new building designed by renowned architect Peter Zumthor. The new facility, officially named the David Geffen Galleries, is scheduled to debut in April and will showcase a completely reimagined installation of the museum's permanent collection, bringing together artworks that were previously separated by time period and geographic origin.

LACMA United's organizing committee expressed disappointment with management's response in an official statement. "We are disappointed that LACMA leadership has chosen to delay rather than embrace the democratic will of its workers," the committee said. They pointed out the irony that while the museum is reimagining itself as a more collaborative and less hierarchical institution through its new David Geffen Galleries, it has refused to extend that same progressive vision to its relationship with the employees who bring LACMA's mission to life every day.

The AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36 has an established track record of successfully helping workers unionize at other prominent Los Angeles cultural institutions. Their recent victories include organizing efforts at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Foundation, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and the La Brea Tar Pits. At the national level, AFSCME Cultural Workers United represents employees at some of the country's most prestigious museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Art Museum, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

The unionization movement continues to gain momentum across the cultural sector, with employees at the Detroit Institute of Arts announcing earlier this week their plans to join AFSCME Michigan. This growing trend reflects widespread concerns among museum workers about job security, compensation, and working conditions in the arts sector.

LACMA United emphasized that the museum's status as a county institution makes management's opposition particularly problematic. Unlike privately operated nonprofit organizations, LACMA was established by Los Angeles County as a public-benefit corporation and receives more than $30 million in public funding annually. This public funding source, the union argues, should make the institution more responsive to workers' rights and democratic organizing efforts.

In response to management's refusal to voluntarily recognize the union, LACMA United has filed a petition with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). The union is asserting that its members should be classified as public sector employees working under county oversight, which could provide them with different legal protections and bargaining rights than private sector workers. ARTnews has reached out to LACMA for an official response to these developments.