Chants of “Guggenheim’s cheap!” “New York is a union town!” and “Up with the union, down with the layoffs!” reverberated down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Higher East Facet this night, April 16, as greater than 50 cultural employees rallied exterior the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum to protest the abrupt termination of 20 staffers.
The museum introduced the layoffs in late February, citing prolonged post-pandemic monetary constraints. Fourteen of the affected employees are represented by Native 2110 United Auto Employees (UAW). On the time, the union chapter’s president Olga Brudastova instructed Hyperallergic that impacted workers had been lower instantly and with out discover. It was the museum’s third spherical of layoffs in 5 years, alongside raised ticket costs, diminished working bills, and hiring freezes.
Dozens of cultural employees from different museums within the metropolis attended the protest in solidarity.
The museum laid off 20 employees with out discover.
Timed with the opening reception for artist Rashid Johnson’s solo exhibition on the museum, tonight’s rally started shortly after 5:30pm on the sidewalk in entrance of the museum’s entrance. Becoming a member of in solidarity, employees from the New Museum, the Museum of Trendy Artwork, the Hispanic Society, Brooklyn Museum, Dia Artwork Basis, and the American People Artwork Museum tirelessly walked in circles on the sidewalk, carrying colourful handmade indicators. “Stop the Department of Guggenheim Efficiency,” learn one signal, in reference to the Trump administration and Elon Musk-led DOGE’s alarming cuts to federal jobs and funding.
A demonstrator holds an indication referencing Dangerous Bunny’s track “Nueva Yol.”
Supporters held up brightly coloured pro-union indicators.
“I would like [museum leaders] to look at the people they’re laying off, and not just the numbers,” Maureen Ahearn, a just lately laid off staffer who had been working on the Guggenheim since 1992, instructed Hyperallergic.
The 64-year-old mentioned she is “discouraged” about discovering one other job within the museum world. Till just lately, she had been working within the museum’s archives and library providers, one among six departments affected by the layoffs.
“They could have moved me to another job or decreased my salary, but there was no notice,” Ahearn mentioned.
In response to Hyperallergic‘s request for comment, a Guggenheim Museum spokesperson said, “Earlier this year, our financial picture required us to make the difficult decision to reduce staffing and reorganize some teams to position the museum well for the future. The impacted colleagues included members of UAW Local 2110, whom we thank for their hard work on behalf of the museum and its mission. All terms of our contract negotiated with UAW Local 2110 have been adhered to.”
A Local 2110 member holds up a sign that reads “overworked and underpaid.”
By 7pm, a line of more than 100 reception attendees had filed outside the Guggenheim entrance. Several people in line who spoke to Hyperallergic said they were not previously aware of the museum layoffs, only learning about the staff cuts from the leaflets distributed by union organizers.
One attendee, Gabrielle Ford, said while waiting in line that she thought the Guggenheim’s choice to put off employees as an alternative of bargaining with their union was “disheartening.”
“On top of being ‘wrongfully discharged,’ they’ve also not been able to have their voices heard, and that’s when people become suspicious,” Ford instructed Hyperallergic, including that it felt “odd” to be attending the reception.
Protesters tirelessly walked in circles on the sidewalk and chanted.
The museum motion comes towards the backdrop of a widespread financial challenges affecting cultural establishments throughout the US, together with the Brooklyn Museum, which just lately hit pause on a extremely scrutinized plan to scale back its workforce within the face of a $10 million price range deficit. The museum laid off at the least 5 non-unionized employees and provided 27 unionized workers buyouts earlier than halting additional cuts.
Ellen Nigro, a Brooklyn Museum conservator, was at tonight’s protest with two co-workers. “The workers are the community, so by laying their workers off, the museum is taking away the livelihoods of its community members,” Nigro mentioned.
