On Friday, workers at the National Nordic Museum announced their intent to unionize with the Communications Workers of America, the latest effort in a growing movement of labor organizing at museums and fine art institutions around the country.
The National Nordic Museum Workers United — which would represent 21 employees working across operations, marketing, visitor, retail, curatorial education, fundraising and special event departments — requested voluntary recognition from leadership at the nationally designated museum in Ballard. It is the only U.S. museum solely focused on the arts, culture and history of immigrants from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Organizers are still collecting signatures, but 16 eligible employees have signed union authorization cards, per a union spokesperson.
“In the past year, we’ve experienced a growing disconnect between the museum’s stated values and our lived workplace realities,” said Taylor Morgan, the museum’s senior grant writer and a member of the union’s organizing committee, in a news release. “We are committed to the long-term success of this institution, but we need a seat at the table to make that possible.”
In an emailed statement, executive director and CEO Lāth Carlson said “the National Nordic Museum respects our staff’s unionization efforts and welcomes collaboration. The leadership of the National Nordic Museum supports any effort that fosters productive dialogue and collaboration to address staff concerns, improve the organization and ensure it remains a great place to work and visit.”
Asked whether museum leadership would voluntarily recognize the union, Carlson said the board and leadership team was “actively considering this and reviewing all available information.”
“We aim to reach a mutually beneficial decision as soon as possible,” Carlson said.
Museum staff started to discuss unionizing more than a year ago, but conversations intensified within the past year, Morgan said. The group is focused on a range of issues, including “a lack of strategic clarity from leadership,” chronic understaffing, unsustainable workloads and stagnant wages as the costs of living in Seattle have risen and promises of improvement have not been met.
Organizers said this has resulted in layoffs, resignations and “a steady erosion of trust and morale” among museum staff, which has intensified with organizational changes under the tenure of Carlson, who started last summer.
In the last year, out of the museum’s 31 total part-time and full-time employees, seven employees have resigned and three employees were laid off, a union spokesperson said Friday. The museum’s chief curator, Leslie Anderson, recently announced she’s departing for a new position at the Rollins Museum of Art in Florida.
Carlson said Friday that two positions were eliminated (and two new ones created) as part of “a small reorganization” in December 2024. “More recently, a staff member’s position was eliminated as part of a departmental decision,” he added. He could not confirm the number of employees who had resigned in the last year as he was traveling Friday. A museum spokesperson didn’t respond to questions about staff departures by the time of publication.
Under new management, workers say leadership’s operational priorities neglect fundraising, visitor retention, collections care and community engagement.
“The Nordic ethos of partnership, equity and respect fuels us and our work, including the values of openness and trust that underpin collaboration at our organization,” Carlson wrote in an emailed statement. “We are grateful to our dedicated employees who represent our values and continue to serve our visitors and the community.”
The union filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board, but urged museum leadership to voluntarily recognize the union by Aug. 26 to “avoid an expensive, drawn-out election process.”
The average time to negotiate a first contract for private, nonprofit art museums is roughly 550 days, or about a year and a half, according to data compiled by advocacy group Museums Moving Forward. That’s longer than the estimated 500 days on average that it takes U.S. unions more broadly to ratify first contracts.
In recent years, staff at renowned museums like the Whitney, Guggenheim and New Museum in New York City and major fine arts institutions in Boston, Philadelphia and Portland have unionized. Closer to home, Frye Art Museum guards, booksellers at Elliott Bay Books, staff at literary nonprofit Hugo House and indie film nonprofit SIFF have also unionized.
The Seattle Art Museum security staff formed a union in May 2022 and, after more than two years of bargaining and a 12-day strike, agreed on a contract in December. And nearly three years since publicly launching their labor effort, Tacoma Art Museum workers secured their first contract in July.
As the Nordic’s museum workers look toward contract bargaining, “we aim to uphold the quality of our operations and programs, and we want to see course correction from the previous year’s decisions,” Morgan said in an email. “We are an amazing museum, with amazing staff, high-quality exhibitions and dedicated community members. We believe that a strong, empowered staff is essential to the museum’s success.”
_____
This coverage is partially underwritten by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The funder plays no role in editorial decision making and The Seattle Times maintains editorial control over this and all its coverage.
