NEW WINDSOR — Workers at Storm King Art Center (SKAC) had another win last month when they won voluntary recognition of a second CSEA bargaining unit for staff in SKAC’s Visitor Services Department.
When SKAC workers voted earlier this spring to join CSEA, workers from Visitor Services were unable to vote due to a National Labor Relations Board decision deeming them as statutory guards ineligible to be in the same bargaining unit.
Workers continued to push for voluntary recognition for Visitor Services staff following the initial union vote. SKAC management agreed to recognize them in a separate CSEA bargaining unit pending a vote, which resulted in a supermajority choosing to unionize with CSEA.
“This is huge progress, not just for workers at Storm King but also for the overall cultural worker organizing movement,” said CSEA Southern Region President Anthony M. Adamo. “I couldn’t be prouder of the workers who’ve persevered despite the challenges they faced in forming their union. Staying the course and winning their union is an inspiration to other cultural workers who are considering organizing or already going beginning that process.”
Organizing Committee member Amber Bowen, a Visitor Services team lead, said that while workers had hoped to be in one wall-to-wall bargaining unit, they still remain united as one CSEA at SKAC.
“We are excited to start our negotiations toward a contract that will be fair and reasonable,” said Bowen. “Unionizing with your colleagues is an empowering process. There is power in the collective and when we come together to say, ‘I want this to change,’ we can make change happen.”
— Jessica Ladlee