BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo AKG Art Museum now has a workers union.
A total of 68 people — representing workers in the Visitor Experience Associate department, facilities, and food and beverage — voted Thursday on whether to form a union. The vote was 36-28 in favor, with four ballots that were challenged.
“We are so excited to have won our union. We are looking forward to strengthening the museum in collaboration with leadership and making the AKG a democratic workplace,” Hannah Cain, a barista at the AKG, said in a statement announcing the vote on Thursday evening.
Some Buffalo AKG Art Museum employees had previously told 2 On Your Side they have been at odds with leadership since Nov. 16, alleging poor labor practices coming from leadership.
Now that the vote to form a union has passed, the workers want to "bargain a fair contract without delay."
“We hope that our union represents all AKG workers — regardless of if they were for or not for the union — this is a new chapter for our team,” Zaned Colón, a Visitor Experience Associate, said in a statement.
The Buffalo AKG Art Museum reopened last year following a $230 million renovation.
Jeffrey Gundlach — a Western New York native and now a California businessman and financier who put forth $65 million as part of that project — had been critical of the unionization effort. He posted a string of since-deleted posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, questioning the effort.
“Our goal is to make the museum the best it can be for everyone, and we truly believe that we’re on the right track to make that happen,” said Sophie Goodwin, a Visitor Experience Associate.
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