(LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA) – Following a wave of successful Organizing Drives among Cultural Institutions in Los Angeles County, Workers employed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) - the largest Art Museum in the Western United States, announced they are forming a Union, LACMA United, with American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Cultural Workers United District Council 36.

The new Union would represent more than 300 Workers and would include Curators, Educators, Guest Relations Associates and more.

In a letter addressed to LACMA Staff, its Executive Team and Board of Trustees, Workers asserted that as the museum nears completion of the new David Geffen Galleries - a project estimated to cost more than $700 million, ensuring the stability of Staff should be equally crucial to the future of the Museum. 

“Many Employees are struggling with wages that have not kept up with the rising cost of living in the sixth most expensive City in the world,” the Workers stated in their letter.

The Workers also said that virtually all Departments have absorbed expanded responsibilities and workloads due to high turnover, limited resources and vacated or frozen positions, often without additional compensation.

By forming LACMA United, the Workers aim to address these issues and advocate for fairer compensation, expanded benefits and increased transparency in institutional protocols and resources - changes that will improve the well-being of Staff and enhance the services they provide for diverse communities. 

“I’ve had the privilege of editing books and exhibition materials at LACMA for nearly twenty-five years,” said Sara Cody, who works as a Senior Publications Editor. “But as Departments have shrunk and workloads have grown increasingly unsustainable, it’s become more and more challenging to uphold the level of excellence these projects deserve. Forming our Union will ensure that we all have the resources and respect to consistently produce our best work as the museum moves forward.”

Charline Nacion, a Mobile Programs Coordinator at LACMA, said: “Being Pro-Union means being Pro-People!. To support Cultural Workers from within the institution means to support the communities we serve.”

Workers have requested voluntary recognition of their Union, LACMA United, upon demonstration of majority support from the Museum’s Executive Team and Board of Trustees by November 5. 

In the last few years, Los Angeles County Cultural Institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Foundation, and most recently the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and La Brea Tar Pits, granted voluntary recognition to their Staff Unions - all of whom also organized with AFSCME District Council 36 and are part of AFSCME Cultural Workers United, the largest Union for Cultural Workers in America.

To Read This Organizing Labor News Story In Its Entirety, Go To: RELEASE: Los Angeles County Museum of Art Workers Latest to Announce Unionization Efforts | AFSCME District Council 36