Never before has the Art Museum experienced such a staff-wide walkout.
In this instance the museum and the union have been bargaining for about two years without reaching agreement on a first contract.
Strikers at both the west and north entrances urged visitors to skip the museum, directing them to the Barnes Foundation down the street. Rizzo said union leaders and museum management met for about nine hours on Thursday and another five hours on Friday. The union and museum have another bargaining session this Friday..“The real stumbling block was when we started talking about the economic package and health-care benefits and stuff like that,” Rizzo said. “It became clear that the museum was unwilling to move on really anything at all.
The museum said that it had also offered employees four weeks of paid parental leave and accelerated eligibility for health benefits for new hourly employees, allowing those employees to receive medical, dental, and vision coverage up to 60 days earlier than they can today. Museum officials pointed out that 90% of the health-care plan is paid for by the museum, which also contributes to employees’ health savings accounts.
In a statement released on Monday, the museum said it “remains committed to reaching a collective bargaining agreement.” A museum spokesperson said that a tentative agreement has already been reached on 25 issues.
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