美国国家公共电台 NPR--Strike by Philadelphia Museum of Art workers shows woes of 'prestige' jobs

Strike by Philadelphia Museum of Art workers shows woes¹ of 'prestige' jobs

Transcript²

PHILADELPHIA — Workers are unionizing in fields where they haven't had a big presence, including world-class cultural institutions. Staff at around two dozen museums across the United States have joined unions since 2019, according to an NPR analysis of news reports and announcements.

An ongoing³ strike at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, famous for its sweeping⁴ collection and cameo in the movie Rocky, is emblematic⁵ of the tensions driving this movement.

One common thread, union organizers say, is the contradiction that comes from working with priceless pieces of art or history while struggling to pay your bills.

"A lot of people say, 'You can't eat prestige.' I think that's true," says Adam Rizzo, museum educator and president of the PMA union.

Like other professional workers who recently unionized, such as architects and adjunct university faculty⁶, museum workers point to the expensive degrees their jobs require when demanding higher pay.

"We don't make enough money to actually pay off our student loans to buy a house," says Rizzo.

Workers at this museum make about 30% less on average compared to institutions of a similar size and budget based on figures from an industry-wide survey, according to the union. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has a $600 million endowment and a $60 million annual budget, according to financial documents on its website.

In 2020, workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art voted to join the American Federation⁷ of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a union representing employees in non-profits, government and the arts. Since then have been bargaining with management over a first contract. Sticking points remain around big ticket items: salary, benefits, raises.

Management has offered raises adding up to 11% by July 1, 2024, as well as four weeks of parental⁸ leave, among other proposals, according to museum communications director Norman Keyes. But the workers say these raises are canceled out by high inflation, and don't fix the underlying⁹ low salaries.

On Sept. 26, the local union chapter of around 180 people went on strike.

Museum seamstress Beth Paolini, one of the workers picketing¹⁰ Wednesday outside the museum's north entrance, has worked there for more than 17 years and earns less than $50,000 annually¹¹.

"I have never in all the years I have worked here gotten any kind of promotional raise," says Paolini.

Online transparency spurred museum union drives

Museums last saw a wave of labor¹² activism in the 1970s and '80s.

That's when many began offering educational programming and hiring teachers, some who had previously¹³ had union representation, according to Laura-Edythe Coleman, assistant professor of Arts Administration and Museum Leadership at Drexel University.

In this wave, the organizing tools are different. Online spaces for museum workers to vent¹⁴ and share information have cropped up, such as Museum Workers Speak and the Art + Museum Transparency spreadsheet, an online document launched in 2019 where museum workers could anonymously¹⁵ disclose their salaries.

"Suddenly museum workers ... were able to see vast differences in pay between people who worked in the same jobs, in the same institutions sometimes, but also across institutions," says Coleman.

The spreadsheet helped fire up museum employees in Philadelphia.

"That's how I learned that I was actually making less than some of the fellows who I was meant to be advising," says Nicole Cook, program manager for graduate academic partnerships¹⁶ at the art museum and one of the people who helped compile the data. Cook has a doctorate¹⁷ in Art History and also works at two universities to make more money.

Other cultural shifts also contributed to a more union-friendly environment. Complaints by Philadelphia Museum of Art employees about a mid-level manager who was allegedly sexually harassing¹⁸ female employees working under him, "started a lot of conversations about fighting against this siloing and this sense of secrecy," says Cook.

The Philadelphia strike appears to be the longest in recent history

First contracts can take years to reach, and not every union that forms will get one, according to data from the National Labor Relations Board.

Workers at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City held protests earlier this year, and employees at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston staged a one-day walkout in November 2021, as both pursued their first contracts. But the Philadelphia walkout appears to be the longest strike by U.S. museum workers in recent history.

"This is the loudest, longest strike that I've seen," says Coleman.

The museum is staying open during the strike, and Keyes says non-union staff are covering the roles of some strikers. He repeatedly declined to comment when asked if outside workers were brought in to mount a new Matisse exhibit, which the union raised concerns about.

Aside from this one fight, there's also a bigger strategy. The number of unionized professional or technical workers has increased over time, according to data from the AFL-CIO, even as the total proportion of the national workforce¹⁹ that is unionized has declined.

Organizing one workplace can serve as an example for other similar workplaces to do the same. Adam Rizzo, art museum educator and one of the union's leaders, says when it formed, it also created a new chapter, Local 397, which employees at other museums could join.

"All of these wonderful institutions are experiencing what we're experiencing ... and I think workers have just had enough," says Rizzo.

Last year, employees at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology²⁰ and Anthropology²¹ voted to join them.

1 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

5 emblematic   

adj.象征的，可当标志的；象征性

参考例句：

• The violence is emblematic of what is happening in our inner cities. 这种暴力行为正标示了我们市中心贫民区的状况。
• Whiteness is emblematic of purity. 白色是纯洁的象征。 来自辞典例句

6 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

9 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

10 picketing   

[经] 罢工工人劝阻工人上班，工人纠察线

参考例句：

• mass picketing of the factory 罢工工人集体对工厂的封锁
• "And my chaps were also there to prevent picketing! “我的人也是防着女工们要拦厂！ 来自子夜部分

11 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

15 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

16 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

17 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

18 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

19 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

20 archaeology   

n.考古学

参考例句：

• She teaches archaeology at the university.她在大学里教考古学。
• He displayed interest in archaeology.他对考古学有兴趣。

21 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。