Seek inclusivity with other cultural workers
Workers at Storm King Art Center (SKAC) voted April 27 to form a union with CSEA Local 1000, joining the fast-growing number of cultural workers across the country unionizing their workplaces.
Workers at SKAC are organizing for a voice on the job, equity in the workplace, sustainable wages, and safety and health protections among other workplace improvements.
Members of the SKAC Organizing Committee began working with CSEA last summer. SKAC is a world-renowned outdoor sculpture park that draws approximately 200,000 visitors annually.
“We are thrilled to welcome the workers of Storm King Art Center into our CSEA family,” said CSEA Southern Region President Anthony M. Adamo. “Not only do these workers have the support of their fellow CSEA members in the Hudson Valley and across New York State, they are also part of a strong coalition within our international union AFSCME known as Cultural Workers United, which allows them to connect and collaborate with other cultural workers organizing their workplaces.”
Unlike other cultural institutions where workers have similar job titles and functions as SKAC workers, management at SKAC is choosing to exclude the vast majority, or two-thirds, of SKAC non-management workers from inclusion in today’s NLRB election.
Although only one-third of the SKAC non-management workers were eligible to vote in the union election, the newly formed CSEA union local is committed to a united bargaining unit where all of the SKAC workers are recognized just like workers at other cultural art centers. The SKAC workers who were eligible to vote in today’s election voted overwhelmingly in favor of unionizing. They will move forward in the process of forming their bargaining unit and have vowed to continue to push for workplace equity via inclusion of all non-management workers.
“We are so excited that our colleagues turned out to have their voices heard and supported our union,” said Emilie Pass, major gifts associate at SKAC and member of the SKAC Organizing Committee. “Now we will continue to advocate for all of our colleagues to be included in our union. We can’t wait to get started to make Storm King a more equitable workplace.”
“Throughout this process, our organizing committee has seen the strength we have as workers,” said Rebecca Lujan, education coordinator at SKAC and a member of the SKAC Organizing Committee. “I’m always thinking of the future of Storm King and their statement supporting inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility. If it’s our practice that we want a more inclusive space at Storm King, it has to happen internally with a union inclusive of all workers.”
“I’m thrilled that my co-workers were able to vote today in favor of joining CSEA and am grateful we have their support to push for a union that is truly inclusive, just like Storm King claims they are,” said Amber Bowen, visitor services team lead and a member of the SKAC Organizing Committee. “It’s often front-line workers that are overlooked, but the operations of Storm King wouldn’t happen without us. All of the departments at Storm King are interconnected and rely upon each other, which is why it makes sense to have a union that includes all of us.”
