LACMA Staff Forms Union Ahead of $720–750M Galleries

Employees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced formation of LACMA United with AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36, representing more than 300 workers across departments including curators, educators and guest-relations staff. In an Oct. 29 letter to colleagues, the executive team and the board, they demanded fairer compensation, expanded benefits and greater transparency, saying wages have not kept pace with Los Angeles’s high cost of living and that staff are absorbing expanded workloads amid turnover and frozen positions. The group has asked museum leadership and trustees to voluntarily recognize the union by Nov. 5; LACMA director/CEO Michael Govan confirmed receipt and said leadership is reviewing the request. The effort comes ahead of the museum’s major reinstallation and the opening of the Peter Zumthor–designed David Geffen Galleries, a roughly $720–750 million project that will house a rethought presentation of the permanent collection. Organizers pointed to recent AFSCME wins at other Los Angeles cultural institutions and said the campaign aims to ensure the institution’s reimagining also prioritizes the staff who care for its collections and audiences.