Workers at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the largest art museum in the western United States, announced Wednesday their intention to form a union called LACMA United in partnership with AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36. The unionization effort represents over 300 museum employees across various departments, including curators, educators, and guest relations associates, who are seeking better working conditions and compensation.
The workers cited stagnant wages that have failed to keep pace with Los Angeles' high cost of living as a primary concern. According to their announcement, many employees are struggling financially in what they describe as the sixth-most expensive city in the world. Additionally, staff members across virtually every department have been forced to take on expanded responsibilities and heavier workloads without additional compensation due to high turnover rates, limited resources, and positions that have been left vacant or frozen.
In an open letter announcing the union formation, LACMA United called on museum management to extend their vision of reimagining the museum beyond just rethinking display hierarchies to include prioritizing the employees who bring the institution's mission to life. The letter emphasized that workers want to pair their shared love of art and service to the county's diverse communities with a thriving workforce where the museum's progress doesn't depend on staff precarity.
The union has requested voluntary recognition from LACMA's executive team and board of trustees by November 5, with responses directed to lacmaunitedgmail.com. If granted, LACMA would join several other Los Angeles County cultural institutions that have already recognized staff unions, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Foundation, and most recently the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and La Brea Tar Pits. All of these institutions organized with the same AFSCME District Council 36.
The unionization announcement comes at a pivotal time for LACMA, as the museum prepares for the grand opening of its radical redesign in April 2026. The transformation centers around the new $750 million David Geffen Galleries, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, which will replace four older buildings with a single gallery structure spanning Wilshire Boulevard. The avant-garde design has drawn mixed reactions from critics, with some comparing it to everything from a freeway overpass to an amoebic pancake.
The new facility will house 110,000 square feet of exhibition space, which is actually 10,000 square feet less than the spaces it replaces, despite the museum's collection containing over 150,000 artifacts and works of art. This reduction in display space amid an ambitious redesign adds another layer of complexity to the workers' concerns about resource allocation and workload management.
LACMA United's goals include securing fairer compensation, expanded benefits, and increased transparency in institutional protocols and resources for all staff members. The workers expressed their desire to improve staff well-being and sense of belonging in a workplace they already deeply care about, while ensuring the stability of the workforce is treated as equally important to the completion of the museum's new physical home.
