Workers at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, have filed to unionise with UAW Local 2110, petitioning the National Labor Relations Board for a formal union election.

The proposed bargaining unit — the specific group of employees a union would represent in contract talks — would cover all 36 full- and part-time workers at the museum, according to a report in Publishers Lunch on 4 August 2026 (Publishers Lunch). The NLRB's own recent filings list a case for the museum proposing a unit of all full-time and regular part-time workers (NLRB).

Staff cited low wages, health and safety conditions, a lack of promotional opportunities, and a desire for greater job security as their reasons for organising, according to a UAW press release reported by Publishers Lunch, which covered the story through reporting by Katy Hershberger (Publishers Lunch).

UAW Local 2110 is no stranger to the cultural sector. The local, part of the United Auto Workers union, already represents employees at university presses, museums, and non-profit organisations across the United States. Its involvement here places a museum dedicated to picture-book art — named for the author-illustrator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar — within a broader wave of unionisation at cultural institutions.

The Eric Carle Museum opened in 2002 and holds a collection of more than 9,000 works of picture-book art. It runs exhibitions, educational programmes, and a reading library. The 36 workers in the proposed unit would, if the election succeeds, begin collective bargaining — the legal process by which a union negotiates wages, benefits, and working conditions with management on behalf of its members.

What happens next follows a standard legal path. The NLRB will review the petition, determine whether the proposed bargaining unit is appropriate, and, if so, schedule a secret-ballot election. A simple majority of those who vote determines the outcome. If workers vote yes, the museum is legally required to bargain with the union in good faith. The process from petition to election typically takes several weeks, though complex disputes over who belongs in the unit can extend the timeline.

Neither museum leadership nor UAW Local 2110 has publicly commented beyond the press release. No election date has been set.