Benefits

What is the benefit of collective bargaining?

Currently, BAM management decides unilaterally on all our terms and conditions of employment: what we will be paid, what our health benefits will be, whether we are eligible for promotion, when we get time off, etc. With a union, BAM must bargain in good faith with us over all of these (and more) conditions of our employment, and cannot reduce our benefits without our union’s agreement. Unsurprisingly, when employees unionize, their jobs generally pay more than non-union jobs and they get better healthcare and other benefits. Unionized staff at MoMA and at other cultural and educational institutions have been able to address their wages, benefits, and rights at the workplace effectively through collective bargaining. (Note: management cannot reduce benefits to retaliate against us for unionizing, or to force us to “bargain back” what we already have or to retaliate against us while we are organizing.)