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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Maida Rosenstein, Director of Organization at UAW Local 2110, on Brooklyn Museum Layoffs
1:15:33
ยท
9 min
Maida Rosenstein, representing UAW Local 2110, testified about the devastating impact of recently announced layoffs at the Brooklyn Museum. She highlighted the union's concerns about the lack of good faith bargaining, violation of contract terms, and potential targeting of union members.
- The museum plans to lay off at least 21 UAW Local 2110 members and reduce hours for others, affecting curators, conservators, and other specialized staff.
- Rosenstein accused the museum of violating the union contract by not providing advance notice and failing to consider alternatives like furloughs or voluntary exit packages.
- The union has filed grievances and labor board charges, alleging anti-union animus in the layoff selections and calling for city intervention and a financial audit of the museum.
Maida Rosenstein
1:15:33
Good morning, everybody.
1:15:35
My name is Nader Rose.
1:15:36
Oops.
1:15:37
Okay.
1:15:38
Does it if it's
Carmen N. De La Rosa
1:15:41
red or
Maida Rosenstein
1:15:42
something?
1:15:43
Can you hear me now?
1:15:44
Okay.
1:15:44
Good morning, and thank you so much to the council members for conducting this hearing.
1:15:50
My name is Meta Rosenstein.
1:15:52
I am the director of organizing for Local two thousand one hundred ten of the UAW.
1:15:56
We are a technical office and professional union.
1:16:00
We represent thousands of members in the cultural sector both in New York City and New England.
1:16:07
Our international union, the United Auto Workers, the UAW, represents over 20,000 members in the New York City area, and I'm very glad to be here representing the 170 member bargaining unit that we just organized at the Brooklyn Museum.
1:16:27
I was responsible for that organizing campaign and for leading the negotiations for the first contract.
1:16:35
And just wanted to say that on Friday, this is what has happened.
1:16:40
We represent that unit includes curators, conservators, archivists, graphic designers, exhibition staff, editors, educators, front of house workers and visitor services and retail staff and development and in marketing.
1:16:57
And we work alongside the members of DC thirty seven AFSME.
1:17:04
On Friday, February 7, the museum announced to us with no warning that they planned a mass layoff of staff to be effective on March 10 claiming that they had a deficit.
1:17:16
The overwhelming number of positions that they intend to lay off are union positions.
1:17:22
At least 21 local, 2,110 represented employees are scheduled for layoff.
1:17:28
In addition, and this hasn't been mentioned before, the museum in addition to the layoffs of the DC thirty seven and two thousand one hundred ten members, the museum has also told us that they are reducing the hours of a number of our full time members to part time and reducing the hours of current part timers in front of house and education museum educators as well.
1:17:53
So it's more than just 47 layoffs.
1:17:56
There are other reductions as well.
1:17:59
These proposed layoffs and reductions are devastating to our members.
1:18:05
Many of the employees that are targeted for layoffs are longer term career based employees.
1:18:11
At least one of our members has more than twenty years of service at the museum.
1:18:16
How is that justified in any way?
1:18:19
Others who you'll hear from are curators and conservators who have years of education and experience that they bring to the museum and that will be lost to the museum.
1:18:30
And I will say this is a career killer for some of these folks because it is not easy to come by these jobs.
1:18:37
And they could not only could the Brooklyn Museum lose these people, but the city and state of New York can lose them as well.
1:18:47
The layoffs will leave the museum, which was already very skimply staffed, represent a lot of other museums, and Brooklyn is has not does not have a heavy staff amount, it is a small head count, will leave the museum outright understaffed and it is going to cause tremendous problems for the people who remain in terms of being able to get the work done and ultimately will hurt the museum.
1:19:16
The layoffs will be devastating to the museum.
1:19:19
This is a museum that has a world class encyclopedic collection that's going to be harmed by the reduction of all the collection care people that they're getting rid of.
1:19:30
Many people, many of the local 2,110 people who are scheduled for layoff include those with core positions in collection management such as curators, conservatives and exhibition related staff.
1:19:41
As I said, the museum is already understaffed in these areas and the loss of these skilled professionals will really endanger this collection which is of value not only to the museum but to the public.
1:19:55
The proposed layoffs are devastating to the city and the community as others have already testified.
1:20:02
Is, The museum is a treasure for the city and for the borough of Brooklyn.
1:20:07
The museum is planning to cut 40% of its educational programs and reduce the number of yearly educations, exhibitions.
1:20:16
Laying off tax paying city residents hurts everybody.
1:20:20
And cutting the art and culture of New York is indisputably bad for our city as was said by council member Hudson.
1:20:29
This is revenue generator.
1:20:31
This is just like the spiral down the drain instead of fighting for our economy.
1:20:39
So letting one of our major museums flounder should not be an option.
1:20:45
The museum has not engaged in good faith bargaining with our union.
1:20:50
Instead of coming to us in advance to discuss the deficit and means of reducing it, the museum just announced it as a done deal on February and as was as prior people testified, went directly to workers saying you're on the hit list for layoff.
1:21:07
That's a direct violation of our contract which requires them to give us advanced notice of any intended reorganizations for the purpose of discussion between the parties.
1:21:20
So it's a direct violation and the union has already filed a grievance over this as well as charges at the National Labor Relations Board.
1:21:29
The museum has not abided by seniority, apparently neither at DC thirty seven or in our union and has taken advantage of the fact that as is typical in this kind of white collar professional unit, people are given very highly specialized unique titles.
1:21:45
And so claiming, you know, that seniority is based on these very unique titles, the museum has targeted particular individuals for layoff, which is another whole problem.
1:21:59
It's not only that they're laying people off, which is bad enough, but they have used these layoffs in a targeted they've weaponized this in a targeted way.
1:22:10
Our union chairperson has been laid off, a curator at the museum who's been there for years and who is in the midst of a major deaccessioning project.
1:22:20
This makes no sense except in the context of union busting.
1:22:26
And a number of people on the list for layoffs are people who have filed grievances or who have testified at a National Labor Relations Board hearing.
1:22:37
And so we have filed charges at the National Labor Relations Board against the Museum for this anti union animus.
1:22:45
I will say this is the Museum has also told us that they intended, you know, they are taking the work and they are going to move it to either non union management employees at the museum or also offloaded onto consultants, independent contractors or so called temporary employees.
1:23:13
So make no mistake about it.
1:23:15
The museum may have a deficit but not only have they not talked to the union and bargained in good faith about how to reduce that deficit, they have weaponized it to target and clean house in a way that is
Carmen N. De La Rosa
1:23:32
Can you wrap up?
1:23:33
I'm sorry.
Maida Rosenstein
1:23:33
Sorry.
1:23:34
I will.
1:23:34
Been going
Carmen N. De La Rosa
1:23:35
over the two minutes.
Maida Rosenstein
1:23:36
So we have expressed to the museum, as has DC thirty seven, a willingness to work with the museum on the deficit.
1:23:47
And we have proposed alternatives such as furloughs, voluntary exit packages to avert the layoffs but the Museum has rejected these things out of hand.
1:23:57
And again, I think that underscores the fact that this, you know, layoff has been weaponized.
1:24:04
We joined with DC thirty seven in asking the City Council to bridge the funding gap.
1:24:13
Museum has told us approximately $3,500,000 in savings, you know, for layoffs of DC thirty seven for union workers.
1:24:25
And we joined with DC thirty seven in asking the council and the public to reach out to the director to revisit this.
1:24:37
We also joined with DC thirty seven in their call upon, you know, for the controller to audit the museum's finances.
1:24:45
And we would say not only should the museum have come to us, the unions in advance to talk about this, they should have involved the city council in advance as well.
1:24:55
Thank you very
Carmen N. De La Rosa
1:24:56
much for your Thank you for your testimony.