2023 Annual Meeting: Organized Labor Panel

2023 Annual Meeting: Organized Labor Panel

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2023 Annual Meeting: Organized Labor Panel
06/05/2023 at 1:00 PM (EDT)  |  Recorded On: 07/26/2023  |  90 minutes
06/05/2023 at 1:00 PM (EDT)  |  Recorded On: 07/26/2023  |  90 minutes Conservation professionals have long viewed their role in institutions as advocates for the long-term care and stewardship of their collections. They often think about preservation and sustainability in relation to art/archives, but not for the individuals working across the museum or library. While many have recognized the structural issues and inherent biases undermining the goals of these mission-driven institutions, the recent challenges and subsequent recalibrations, due to the pandemic, forced many museums and libraries to make difficult decisions. Institutional priorities are laid bare during periods of societal and organizational crises. While select museum and library workers were considered essential, it became abundantly clear that many were deemed expendable regardless of their expertise and years of institutional service. This painful realization forced some museum and library workers to look at ways to address inherent power dynamics. Unions are not unheard of in cultural heritage institutions, just uncommon. Before the pandemic, there had been a steady uptick in interest in unions within the sector. When institutions shut their doors in March 2020, many museum and library workers started to think more about unions and the protections it could afford workers. Museum and library workers are no longer content sitting on the sidelines; if they want to have a say in how museums and libraries are organized and managed then they need to find ways to sit at the table where decisions are made. Conservation professionals, as they reflect on their role within the cultural heritage field, are uniquely positioned within museums and libraries to articulate and advocate for systemic change. This panel* brings together cultural heritage professionals from different museums and libraries to discuss their experiences engaging with organized labor activities at their respective institutions. Discussion will include the recent successful, and the not so successful, aspects of unionizing; and highlight some concrete workplace improvements that have been won through recent union contracts. A union contract provides a transparent framework for tangible actions that move beyond rhetoric. This topic has been discussed more broadly at other forums but not within conservation specifically. The goal of this panel is to share some ways in which conservation professionals have organized for workplace democracy and started to form networks, formal and informal, with colleagues across the cultural heritage sector. It is the hope of the panelists that collective action will strengthen cultural institutions in the field more broadly as the discussion recenters individuals working to preserve the legacy of humanity for generations to come. *Due to the sensitive nature and timing of current activities, the list of confirmed panelists will be shared at a later date. Let's know what to cover - fill out the GoogleForm
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