Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? The Eric Carle Museum staff have started unionizing. Workers announced the news on Instagram on August 3, amid staff allegations of understaffing, a lack of promotions, and poor workplace conditions at the Massachusetts museum established by the beloved children’s book author and illustrator.
According to their post, employees filed for a full-time and part-time staff election with the National Labor Relations Board. “We call upon Museum leadership not to interfere with or delay a union vote,” the post reads. Under representation from the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2110, the group demanded that as many staff as possible be allowed to vote in the election, given they fit the eligibility criteria.
Carle, the late children’s book artist best known for The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969) and his collaboration with Bill Martin Jr. on Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1967), founded the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in November 2002 with his wife, Barbara Carle. In the 23 years since its opening, the museum has welcomed more than a million visitors to Amherst, Massachusetts, to see the author’s illustrations and iconic tissue paper collages.
However, a litany of recent allegations have pushed museum staff to the point of unionizing.
“Staff have raised crucial concerns about safety issues, under-staffing and other conditions that interfere with our ability to do our jobs but we are often brushed aside,” said Sarah Demarest, a guest services associate, in a union statement shared with Hyperallergic. “Right now, without a union, we have no effective means of addressing our concerns.”
Assistant retail manager Jessica Blasko echoed Demarest’s thoughts: “We all care about the Museum, but I want our hours and working conditions to be sustainable so that staff can continue doing the jobs that we love.”
The statement cited other allegations, such as a lack of promotions, a desire for better job security, and health conditions, as reasons for unionization.
“The Museum needs to hear our viewpoint on these things and with a union, they will,” Demarest said.
The Eric Carle Museum has not responded to Hyperallergic‘s request for comment.
As an interdepartmental effort, the union will encompass staff working across six areas of the museum — education, marketing, the bookshop, guest services, collections, and development.
Over the past few years, a number of other museums have organized under UAW Local 2110, which represents workers at the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, and many others.
In 2020, over 200 staff members at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston voted to unionize under Local 2110, with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art following suit in April 2021. Earlier this year, workers across 50 departments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art officially unionized with UAW.
With the upcoming vote, workers at the Eric Carle Museum will join the movement alongside other cultural institutions demanding better representation and working conditions.
“Unionizing is an important next step to ensure that our contribution is recognized and that the future of our work is protected,” Blasko stated.
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