PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The union representing workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art rallied with sympathetic union workers from across the city on Tuesday night. The museum workers are demanding higher wages and better benefits as they negotiate their contract.
AFSCME District Council 47 Local 397, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Union, called on museum leadership again to get the ball rolling with their contract negotiations.
"We have been at the bargaining table for 22 months, and we'd like to see things moving faster," said member Nicole Cook. "And so far we have been really far apart on wages and benefits, which is unfortunate because we feel we are putting really good evidence forward to support our positions there."
Members say, apart from higher wages and better benefits, they are looking for more affordable health insurance, improved communication and a better way to address issues in the workplace.
The hundreds of union workers gathered at the institution's iconic front steps — packed in with signs, megaphones and chants — were just feet away from the Rocky statue.
"Like Rocky, they are a part of the working class," AFSCME President Lee Saunders called out through a bullhorn. "Like Rocky, they have deep ties to their community. Like Rocky, they may be underdogs. Like Rocky, they may not have fame, fortune, or pedigree. But like Rocky, they are fearless. Like Rocky, they never quit!"
Sarah Shaw, an organizer, said a lot of the work done at the museum isn't much different from what other union members across the country do.
"Customer service," Shaw said. "It is administrative work. It's office work. It's the people who deal with the public and the retail stores and in visitor services. The people who physically move the art around the building and who install it, so it is physical labor. It's the same kind of work that happens everywhere."
Julie Weaver, also in attendance, works in gallery maintenance.
"It's important that we're a part of the union so that we can work together for fair wages and be a part of a labor movement that respects its workers and is a safe working environment."
Madeleine Nasta, who works with museum donors, says she would like to see museum management "being unified with my coworkers and valuing their time and energy and their lives, and ensuring that they are paid fairly and they are paid a liveable wage."
KYW Newsradio contacted the Philadelphia Museum of Art for a response but has not heard back.
