Statement

Let us be frank: museum workers were already in crisis before the effects of COVID-19 hit. So many have been scrambling to get by, living paycheck-to-paycheck, piecing together multiple part-time jobs, taking out loans and struggling to pay them off. Pay disparities between leadership and frontline staff have perpetuated racial and economic inequity in institutions that profess to serve the public good. Employer-paid health insurance or paid time off is a pipe dream for many.

Now, as museums react to the unprecedented financial threat of an ongoing pandemic, we are seeing the usual inequities at play in their responses. Countless workers have been laid off, furloughed, or had hours cut -- particularly part-time, emerging, and mid-career workers -- while in many cases executives are taking paltry pay cuts (if any at all). Those at the top are prioritizing the longevity of their institutions and collections over the well-being of the staff who keep them running. The truth is that museums simply cannot function without security guards, educators, maintenance workers, and visitor services staff--often the most racially diverse groups within disproportionately white and white-led institutions. The lack of regard for the financial security of these staff members is revealing of institutional values. COVID-19 is new, but the outsize impact of hard times on workers in precarious positions is not.

Our vision for the Museum Workers Relief Fund is one of radical redistribution, in which individuals leverage whatever privilege they can to support their peers who have been disposed of by museums. We will raise funds to put $500 in the bank accounts of as many museum workers as we possibly can with a starting goal of raising $50,000, without any form of means-testing, as a demonstration of radical trust and solidarity.

We learned long ago that the institution does not love us and that museums do not have our backs. But as museum workers, we can lean on one another for support and solidarity. And as more museum workers continue to speak up, we can build upon this network of support and advocacy to inspire more radical action.

Museum Workers Speak

May 12, 2020