Portland Museum of Art Security Associates & Gallery Ambassadors Unionize

Security Associates and Gallery Ambassadors of the Portland Museum of Art won their National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election on January 24 to unionize with the SPFPA (The International Union, Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America). 

“We made the decision to unionize for a plethora of reasons but just some are: to solidify and achieve better benefits and fairer wages, to have our voices be heard and be taken more seriously, and to acquire greater job security,” the union’s bargaining committee wrote in a statement. “We hope that the management of the Portland Museum of Art will use their principles in dealing with us and do so in good faith! When the majority of the employees of the Portland Museum of Art unionized with UAW Local 2110 in 2021, we were excluded from this as security guards. Now we are moving forward with the support of the members of the department and our coworkers from the wider museum.”  

In late 2021, PMA staff voted in a separate NLRB election to form a union with United Auto Workers Local 2110 of the Technical, Office and Professional Union, but a majority Republican-appointed NLRB sided with PMA management in its challenge to the make up of the bargaining unit and excluded gallery ambassadors. In late 2021, Local 2110 and PMA negotiated a first contract that included wage increases, health care and child care improvements, vacation benefits and more.