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After weeks of rallies against expected layoffs at the Brooklyn Museum and even a special oversight hearing at City Hall, District Council 37, one of the unions representing employees, said in a statement that leadership will offer some buyouts to impacted workers.
In an email press release today, March 10, a week before the staff cuts were set to go into effect, DC 37 said the museum agreed to voluntary separation packages and retirement incentives — alternatives the union has long been advocating for. It’s unclear how many workers will be eligible, or whether layoffs will be avoided entirely.
“The outcome of these negotiations is a testament to the power of union representation — when we fight together, we win,” Henry Garrido, executive director of DC 37, said in a statement. “We will continue pushing for sustainable funding for the city’s cultural institutions.”
Hyperallergic has contacted DC 37 as well as UAW Local 2110, the other union representing workers at the museum, for comment.
This development comes in the midst of a one-month saga that began with unions learning of expected layoffs just days before Brooklyn Museum Director Anne Pasternak confirmed the news in an all-staff meeting on February 7.
Citing a projected $10 million budget deficit, Pasternak laid out a plan to address the institution’s “significant cash flow problem,” including programming reductions and salary cuts of 10 to 20% for senior leadership. But she stressed that layoffs were unavoidable, with salaries making up a significant portion of the museum’s operational budget and city funding that “has not kept pace” with DC 37 salaries in particular.
Last week, after the second union rally outside the museum drew over 100 people, Pasternak informed staff that the timeline for layoffs would be extended by one week pending a possible financial boost from the city, buying workers a bit more time to bargain.
It’s not immediately clear whether the museum secured a funding increase. Hyperallergic has contacted the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Brooklyn Museum for comment.
This is a developing story.
Editor’s note 3/10/25 9pm EDT: A previous version of this article cited a union announcement that the layoffs had been definitively averted. The article was edited to reflect that negotiations remain ongoing.
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