“Yes We Can!” AKG Workers Win Union Vote
Photograph by Regan VercruysseFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2023
PRESS CONTACT
buffaloakgworkersunited@gmail.com
BUFFALO – Today, about 70 workers at the Buffalo AKG Museum successfully voted to unionize in a vote of 26-28 with four challenged ballots. Workers in the Visitor Experience Associate department, Facilities, and Food & Beverage are included in the union.
“We are so excited to have won our union! We are looking forward to strengthening the museum in collaboration with leadership and making the AKG a democratic workplace,” said Hannah Cain (she/her), a barista at the AKG.
“We hope that our union represents all AKG workers — regardless of if they were for or not for the union — this is a new chapter for our team,” said Zaned Colón, a Visitor Experience Associate.
During the union campaign, in anti-union meetings, workers were told that contract negotiations could drag on and be even more contentious than a union election. This is the same threat that companies such as Starbucks, Amazon, and others have made during union campaigns and then proceeded to stall the bargaining process.
Workers are challenging the AKG to be a different kind of employer. They ask that the AKG end their relationship with notorious union-busting law firm, Jackson Lewis, and bargain a fair contract without delay.
“There is no reason for contract negotiations to take more than a few weeks or months if the museum is serious about bargaining. We hope that this new relationship between the AKG and our union will become a model for what a collaborative and mutually beneficial partnership can look like,” said Sophie Goodwin, a Visitor Experience Associate. “Our goal is to make the museum the best it can be for everyone, and we truly believe that we’re on the right track to make that happen.”
Workers are also planning on hosting inclusive bargaining sessions and creating a democratic bargaining committee that represents the voices of all workers in the AKG union and beyond.
