Workers at the New York Transit Museum in Downtown Brooklyn will vote on whether to unionize on March 27, a step forward after the museum refused to voluntarily recognize the effort last month.
Museum workers first announced plans to unionize in early February, a decision they say was driven by concerns over job insecurity, unfair compensation, a lack of transparency around managerial decision-making, and isolation between workers in separate departments.
The museum management’s decision to deny voluntary recognition marked a shift in its response toward unions at the institution: Last year, when three dozen sales associates working in the Transit Museum gift shop unionized through the Transport Workers Union 100, museum management opted to recognize the union voluntarily, allowing those workers to move forward without an NLRB election.
Those hoping to unionize now—a coalition of part-time and full-time workers—are organizing through AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 37, one of the largest unions in New York City.
Transit Museum workers first announced their intent to unionize via Instagram on Feb. 4. A petition calling for voluntary recognition had received 850 signatures by early March, including from Brooklyn officials like state Senators Julia Salazar, Jabari Brisport and Kristen Gonzales; Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest; and Council Member Chi Ossé.
The museum rejected the voluntary recognition request on Feb. 17. In a letter reviewed by BK Reader, Brenlla Law Firm, which represents the museum, stated their client “believes that in order to ensure employees have a fair and neutral process in determining whether they wish to be represented by a union, an election should be conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.”
The museum did not respond to calls and email requests for comment.
A formal election, which can take weeks or months to be processed and scheduled by the NLRB, buys employers time to dissuade their workers against unionization, according to Henry Garrido, executive director of District Council 37.
In this case, however, the process moved forward quickly: An election was scheduled by the NLRB just a few days after workers filed their petition.
Garrido said the museum may have decided to not recognize unionization efforts because changes made to the NLRB during the past year, including the reversal of several pro-union orders issued during former President Joe Biden’s term, may make an employer-friendly outcome through an election seem more likely than a year ago.
Patricia Janick, who works full-time as the museum’s school youth and group programs coordinator, said that she remains hopeful that employees will eventually unionize.
“We are very confident we have the numbers and the support,” she said, noting the group’s push for voluntary recognition, even as they move forward with the NLRB election.
Talk of unionizing began in May 2025, when a worker at the Transit Museum was approached by a worker from the Brooklyn Museum, according to Janick. Employees there had won their own election to join District Council 37 in 2021.
After being connected to District 37, the Transit Museum employee began gathering colleagues who had expressed grievances in the past and formed an organizing committee.
At the time, the Transit Museum was at the start of a “phase of transition,” Janick said. The museum’s former director of eight years, Concetta Anne Bencivenga, had just been dismissed from her post. Around that same time, the museum “also had some other staff members be let go for reasons that were not super clear” to employees, Janick said. As a result, the duties left by vacant positions were taken up by other employees, who did not receive changes in title or compensation, Janick said.
“In 2025, we saw museums like [the Brooklyn Museum] fight to save jobs and secure funding with their union,” Janick said. “We at [the Transit Museum] realized we could only have that type of support and voice if we had a union ourselves.”
The Transit Museum’s campaign is the latest in a string of organizing efforts at museums across New York City. In January, workers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art unionized under Local 2110 UAW. Last spring, workers at the South Street Seaport Museum did the same.
For Janick and Ava Dennis, a part-time museum educator, the decision to unionize is rooted in the very history that they’re tasked with sharing every day.
“Our museum tells stories that wouldn’t exist without organized labor,” Dennis said. In the museum itself, placards highlight the successful labor movements of the workers who fought for safe working conditions and fair pay while building New York’s subway system.
“We tell these stories, we uplift them and remember them,” she added. “We deserve that same sort of opportunity.”
