Unionized staff at the Guggenheim Museum have voted to authorize a strike, its union UAW Local 2110 announced today. The union is currently in contract negotiations with the museum, seeking better pay, health benefits, and job security.

UAW Local 2110 announced that 93 percent of its membership voted last week in favor of the strike, saying, per a release, that the workers would do so “if necessary to win a fair contract.” The union has not yet set a date for when the strike would take place.

Workers at the Guggenheim from several departments, including curatorial, conservation, education, and visitor services, voted to join UAW Local 2110 in 2021 and ratified their first contract with the Guggenheim in August 2023. That contract was approved for a 2.5-year period.

Since December, the union has been in negotiations with the Guggenheim to approve a second contract. Amid those negotiations, the museum also hired Melissa Chiu to serve as director.

The union said the most recent round of layoffs at the Guggenheim, which affected 20 staff members in February 2025, is among its top concerns with this contract and that it is “seeking strengthened job security provisions, including advance notice of layoffs, and improved severance pay,” according to a release.

In a statement, union chair Drew Reynolds, who works in the museum’s education department, said, “The layoffs last year were implemented chaotically. Laid off staff were told to leave the museum with no advance notice and no union representation. The cuts to staff created hardships for those of us remaining because we were forced to pick up a lot of extra work. Workers took the brunt of the cuts while museum leadership did not give up a penny in their salaries.”

In a statement to ARTnews, the Guggenheim said, “We are currently at the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith towards a renewal of the contract with UAW Local 2110. Our priority remains reaching a fair and economically sustainable agreement for employees and the Guggenheim. Our bargaining team reached agreement with the union on a number of issues and remains ready to continue discussions at any time. We value our employees and the important work they do every day to support our visitors, collections, exhibitions, and mission. We are hopeful for a positive outcome on both sides soon.”

The Guggenheim has offered a four-year bargaining agreement that will include 3 percent pay increase (retroactive to January) for the first year, as well as a 2.75 percent pay increase in each of the agreement’s next three years. The union has countered with a contract that would have a three-year term and include a pay increase of 5 percent for the first year, along with a 4.25 percent bump in the next two years. The union cited “an inflation rate of 5.1% in New York City and higher health care costs, these increases will not allow them to keep up with the cost of living” as its reasoning for rejecting the museum’s proposed contract.

The union also said that it is seeking “a modest reduction in employee health care costs for employees who earn less than $75,000 per year,” per the release. According to the union, staff making under $75,000 per year “pay approximately $4,700 per year for family coverage and approximately $1,600 a year for single coverage” in addition to co-pays and deductibles.

“Management is pushing for a contract that does little to address our job security or the financial hardship of frontline staff,” Anton Sherin, a union member and an archivist at the Guggenheim said in a statement. “We are deeply committed to our work for the Museum but we need management to understand that what they are offering is unsustainable.”

Updated, June 20, 3025, 11:30 a.m.: This article has been updated to include a statement from the Guggenheim Museum.