Guggenheim and Brooklyn Museum staff approve second union contracts

Workers at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Brooklyn Museum in New York have ratified second union contracts.

The approvals were reported on 2 October 2026, closing out a second round of bargaining at both museums, according to ARTnews. Ratification means members voted to approve the deal. A contract then takes effect.

The votes did not come out of nowhere. The Brooklyn Museum’s workers voted to approve the institution’s first contract with Local 2110 in November 2023, as reported by Artnet. A few months earlier, in March 2023, the 180-member union at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York voted overwhelmingly to approve its first contract, according to The New York Times.

This year’s talks were tense. Unionised workers at the Guggenheim voted to strike during contract negotiations, a move reported on 30 June at the height of the summer visitor season by Artforum. Then, in mid-September, workers at the Whitney, the Brooklyn Museum and the American Folk Art Museum in New York voted to authorise strike action, according to The Art Newspaper.

A walkout was avoided. Unions reached tentative agreements at the Brooklyn Museum and the American Folk Art Museum, Hyperallergic reported on 29 September. A tentative agreement is a deal struck by negotiators that still needs a yes vote from members. The agreements potentially averted strike action.

The American Folk Art Museum is the newest union shop of the group. Its workers moved to unionise in May 2024, citing fair wages, benefits and sustainable working conditions, Hyperallergic reported at the time.

For visitors, the sequence matters. Strike authorisation votes raised the prospect of disruption at three museums. The tentative deals and the two ratification votes have taken that immediate pressure off in Brooklyn and at the Guggenheim.