Press Release

PMA Union requests employer commit to neutrality, cease anti-union activity with noted “union avoidance” law firm Morgan Lewis

For release: June 10, 2020

The Philadelphia Museum of Art Union requested voluntary recognition from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) on May 22 (read our letter here). After more than two weeks without a response from museum leadership, we now learn that Morgan Lewis is advising and representing them before the National Labor Relations Board, as well as holding internal “info sessions” for alleged PMA supervisors. Morgan Lewis is a noted “union avoidance” law firm and proudly states as much on their website: “We help clients . . . avoid union penetration, and strategically shape bargaining units to minimize potential union organizing victories.” Working with Morgan Lewis contradicts Director Timothy Rub’s statements to staff that museum leadership is being cooperative and that “we recognize and respect the right of our employees to be represented by a union.” In light of this development, we ask museum leadership to cease any and all planned union-busting tactics and to publicly commit to absolute neutrality in any union election. We once again invite them to voluntarily recognize our union.

It is the employees, not the employers, who democratically vote for a union. Any interference in that process from the employer is a denial of our federally protected rights as workers and a betrayal of the museum’s mission as a civic institution. We have stated from the beginning of our campaign that our intention in forming a union is to ensure the safety and well-being of our museum staff and museum visitors. After a series of high-profile exposés of an abusive and discriminatory workplace culture and amidst a viral pandemic, we expect museum leadership to work with us collaboratively to realize this goal. We expect their full cooperation, and barring that, their full neutrality.

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