The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s staff members officially filed for a union election on Nov. 17, 2025. On Jan. 16, it was announced they won the vote by a 76% margin, and they officially unionized under Local 2110.
The Met, the largest art museum in the United States, is home to over 5,000 years of art. According to the website’s mission statement, the Met “collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across time and cultures in order to connect all people to creativity, knowledge, ideas, and one another.”
According to the New York City Central Labor Council, the unionization idea stemmed from over four years of organizing in a fight for job security, pay equity and transparency in the museum’s employment policies.
As details continue to be finalized for the union under Local 2110, The New York Times reported that the union could represent up to half of the museum’s staff as it will cover members across 50 different departments.
Local 2110, United Auto Workers, handles the union contracts of those who work in universities, publishing, museums and law firms. Other museum workers that UAW represents include workers from the Museum of Modern Art, the Jewish Museum, The Bronx Museum of the Arts and the Brooklyn Museum.
Katie Bird, one of the filing Met workers, pointed out that the same day Jeff Bezos and his wife’s involvements in the upcoming Met Gala as the lead sponsors were announced, they went to file for the union election.
In an article with the magazine Left Voice, Bird wrote that although they chose Local 2110 because of how many different art institutions they represent, the unionizing workers do not want to simply put everything into their new organizer’s hands. Bird said that while UAW President Shawn Fain has a progressive reputation, Fain has been “adapting to Trump’s ‘America First’ trade policies.”
Those wanting to unionize had to file a petition to do so because the Met wasn’t voluntarily recognizing their efforts.
Even after they had won their union election, the museum deemed 100 of the signed people ineligible to join the union. A Met spokesperson said in a statement that the museum has always been dedicated to supporting its staff members, quoting that over 25% of its employees earn over $100,000 a year.
