MOCA UNION

Mission Statement

In 1979 The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) was incorporated with the purpose of operating as a public institution. In order to fulfill MOCA’s civic responsibility, we call on you to not only consider your duty to the community through improvements for visitors, but to afford the same sentiments toward the workers who actively embody the primary mission of The Museum. We believe in the power of art and its role in society; therefore, we see our work as vital to its success in reaching our community.

We work in the Education, Exhibitions, Retail, Visitor Engagement and Communications departments of the museum. We have come together to collectively improve our working conditions. Instead of looking outside of the Museum for answers, we ask that leadership listen to its own workers and hear our needs directly. If MOCA is indeed committed to its mission of remaining contemporary and embracing the inevitability of change, it is imperative to join the movement in the name of greater equity and inclusivity. Give your workers a seat at the table.

The workers at MOCA have organized because we desire pride in our place of work and we are advocates for the necessary changes that will maintain the Museum’s integrity. We install the artworks on view, guard exhibitions, and greet and educate visitors, giving them something to walk away with when they leave the museum. We believe that fair compensation for all workers throughout the museum is essential to ensuring its diversity: salaries, wages, and benefits at the museum must be sustainable for everyone, regardless of the privileges afforded them by race, class, or gender.

We stand in solidarity with workers at the Marciano Art Foundation, the New Museum, the Guggenheim, SFMOMA, MoMA, The Met, Berkeley Art Museum, the Philadelphia Art Museum, the LA Museum of Tolerance, the Frye Museum, and the many factions of workers all over the world whose labor has been undervalued. We hope that our actions will inspire other workers to join the labor movement and obtain the rights they deserve.