Workers at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) have initiated a strike after management failed to reach a wage-hike deal with the employees’ union.

The strike by the MASS MoCA union, formed in April 2021, began March 6 after the 120-member union spent more than five months at the bargaining table with the museum.

The MASS MoCA union is organized under the Local 2110 UAW, an affiliate of the powerful United Auto Workers, that also bargains for workers at cultural institutions including Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Guggenheim, among other institutions. (The UAW celebrated the victory of a historic strike last year against the Detroit Three carmakers, General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis.)

Workers were seen picketing with UAW signs Wednesday, some of which read: “I Don’t Want To Strike But I Will” and “Abuse Of Power Comes As No Surprise.” The union asked museum visitors not to cross the picket line in support of the striking workers.

Workers at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art have initiated a strike after management failed to reach a wage-hike deal with the employees’ union. Photo courtesy of MASS MoCA Union

The union intends to picket until a deal is reached, acknowledging in a statement that its members were forgoing pay as a sacrifice until the deal could be reached. It has established a hardship fund to support workers as the strike continues.

“Currently, MASS MoCA management’s offer does not keep up with inflation and the rising cost of living, leaving our members unable to cover the expenses of living in Berkshire County,” the union said in a statement.

The Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator gages that the average cost of living in Berkshire County, located along the border with New York, is around $47,000 annually for a single person without children and about $117,000 for a family of four.

The average full-time rate for union members is only $43,600 per year, the union said. Most workers—about 58 percent—earn $16.25 per hour, which would amount to just $33,800 per year. The union is seeking to raise the hourly wage to a minimum rate of $18.25, or just shy of $38,000 per year—still $9,000 less than the annual cost of living.

Workers at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art have initiated a strike after management failed to reach a wage-hike deal with the employees’ union. Photo courtesy of MASS MoCA Union

This is the second time the union has conducted a strike. After a one-day strike in August 2022, employees reached their first contract with the museum, which allowed them to re-open the agreement in October 2023 to negotiate further wage increases.

“The museum cannot agree to terms that will diminish our mission or operational sustainability, upend vital partnerships, reduce our programs, or fundamentally change our creative workplace culture,” museum leaders said in a March 1 email rejecting the union’s latest offer. “Simply put, MASS MoCA has been and will continue to be moved to adopt proposals that are balanced, fair, sustainable, and honest.”

The union countered that its proposed wage hike would only cost the museum an additional $150,000 for this year and help workers make ends meet.

“MASS MoCA seems out of touch with our needs and concerns as employees,” said Meg Labbee, a 25-year employee of the museum who works in artists services. “They say the arts and artists come first but they need to show some regard for the people who work here. We love the work but we deserve respect and fair conditions.”