Mary Cochran, Associate Registrar and Greg Bailey, Senior Objects Conservator at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss their successful unionization efforts, the challenges they faced during negotiations and the significant improvements secured in their first contract.
After a four-year organizing campaign, workers at the Walters Art Museum finally ratified their first union contract in July. Bailey detailed the journey, which began in 2020 when employees started exploring unionization options, ultimately choosing to organize with AFSCME. Despite facing a complex legal structure and initial resistance from management, the workers persevered. He said their breakthrough came when the state legislature and governor were on the verge of passing a law guaranteeing collective bargaining rights, which brought the administration to the negotiating table.
The nearly two-year bargaining process resulted in a strong three-year contract that addresses key worker concerns. Highlights include a 13 percent wage increase over the contract's life, improved health benefits, increased leave, including eight weeks of fully paid parental leave and robust anti-harassment policies. Cochran emphasized the importance of work-life balance in their negotiations, securing improvements in PTO and expanding bereavement leave to include chosen family and coworkers.
She stressed the significance of solidarity throughout the organizing and bargaining process. Despite the lengthy struggle, the unit remained cohesive, culminating in a unanimous vote to ratify the contract. Bailey views their success as part of a larger wave of cultural worker organizing across the country, driven by pandemic-related realizations about job precarity and the essential nature of their work as public servants.
Tune in to the full episode to hear more about this inspiring victory for museum workers and its implications for the cultural sector.