Workers at Hispanic Society Entering Third Week on Strike

The staff of the Hispanic Society of America, members of UAW Local 2110, will soon enter their third week on strike, having walked off the job to fight for a fair first contract on March 27th. Workers unionized in 2021 after the Board of Trustees of the Society terminated their pension plan while keeping wages stagnant for years. This week, members were joined on the picket line by Councilmember Shaun Abreu.

“We’ve been trying to negotiate a contract for over a year, and negotiations really broke down over health benefits,” Maida Rosenstein, director of organizing for UAW Local 2110 told The Art Newspaper this week. “The Hispanic Society has been pushing against the union from the very beginning. They hired [the law firm Epstein Becker & Green] and they ran an anti-union campaign, but it did not work. People voted to form a union.”

The Hispanic Society is demanding employee payments for health care premiums and deductibles that were previously covered by the Hispanic Society. Workers say that the wage increases offered will not offset the additional cost to benefits. The Union also says that the Society is trying to remove as many positions as possible from union eligibility by threatening to subcontract out positions and by misclassifying positions as temporary. Workers have repeatedly complained about workloads, lack of staffing and concerns about the safety of the collection, which includes masterpieces of Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

You can join workers on their picket line every weekday from 9:30am to 2pm at 613 West 155th Street (155th Street and Broadway). You can also click here to make a donation to the union's hardship fund so that workers can continue their fight for a fair first contract!