Last Friday, the museum’s six dozen “Visitors Services Associates,” who were tasked with overseeing galleries and educating visitors, announced that they were forming a union to negotiate about issues surrounding scheduling, low wages, family leave, and job security. On Tuesday, they received an email informing them that the museum had indefinitely shuttered due to low attendance, and that they would all be terminated.
A post on the museum union’s Instagram called the move a “gross obstruction of workers rights.” On Thursday, workers filed an unfair labor practice charge withe the National Labor Relations Board, and the foundation is currently under investigation.
