If something feels different the next time you visit the Met, that’s because it is. On Thursday, January 13, The Met Union won our election with UAW Local 2110. Of more than 700 workers who voted, a decisive margin of 76 percent were in favor. Our bargaining unit will be made up of nearly 900 workers across departments, making this the biggest union win in the museum’s more than 150-year history.

This week, the Met has been a happier workplace than I’ve seen it since I started in 2021, when the museum was still closed to the public because of COVID-19. Workers have been wearing union badges and “I Voted” stickers, bringing in celebratory snacks and treats to share, and crowding into the elevator to go vote together. Museum management has largely retreated from a relatively mild union-busting effort, likely fearing the public shame that such a campaign would attract.

These election results come after around five years of steady organizing through one-on-ones, weeknight Zoom calls, lunchtime information sessions, and forming closer bonds than ever with our coworkers. When we officially filed for an election in November, our Instagram became quite the annoyance for management as we showcased pro-union workers from across departments and reported thoroughly on the museum’s attempts to union-bust, like hiring the notorious lawyer Theo Gould, favored by Starbucks and Amazon to crush workers’ union efforts.

On Thursday night when the NLRB counted the ballots at the museum, several dozen workers and some UAW staff packed into a small room to watch the results come out. The mood was bubbly with nerves and anticipation. People occasionally laughed or sighed with relief; one person complained that the words “yes” and “no” were too exciting to endure hearing ever again. Theo Gould himself stood in a long black coat near the front of the room, hovering over the NLRB staff as they counted. The process took several hours, and when the result was officially declared,  the room erupted in a release of joy, tension, and relief.

Having a wall-to-wall union will change history for the Met. As a newly formed union, we will soon enter negotiations for our first contract, but it is so much more than a negotiation for a legally binding document — it’s a power struggle between us, the ones who do all the work of running the museum, and our bosses, who will always want to get that work out of us as cheaply as possible while shaping the institution to fit their own needs and interests.

With a union, we get to ask, who will decide how much we get paid? Who will choose which art, exhibitions, and events we dedicate our time and resources to? Ultimately, who will control the museum itself? I think it should be us.

We are fighting for higher pay, job security, good benefits, and the respect we deserve. But after the start to 2026 we’ve had, fighting for our basic rights and dignity also means connecting our shared bread-and-butter needs to our social and political needs. And it couldn’t be more clear that it’s time for all unions to plunge head first into the fight against imperialism.

What It Means to Unionize in 2026

The Met Union has come into existence at an unstable moment for the country and the world, with ICE attacks and growing protests, and Trump carrying out imperialist violence in Venezuela while threatening Greenland and Iran, where anti-government protests are shaking the country. What does this mean for us?

It means that there has never been a more important time for unions to exist and to fight. It’s true that the Met Union formed because we all want to secure higher pay, job security, and good benefits. But the political scenario we are living through requires us to demand even more than that. More and more workers are beginning to recognize that U.S. imperialism’s campaign of violence will, sooner or later, make its way back to U.S. workers, though not before harming countless of our working-class siblings around the world.

We are already starting to see the working class advance its struggle from bread-and-butter issues to fighting against oppression. In October last year, Italian dockworkers led a strike that shut down the country for a day in solidarity with Palestinians and the Global Sumud Flotilla, under the contagious slogan “Blocchiamo Tutto.” And in Iran, transit workers are calling for class-independent action of the working class and oppressed as the way for the protests to fight off both authoritarian leadership and imperialist intervention.

The Key Is Class Struggle

Within our own union, several UAW chapters, including UAW 4811, have recently made statements against Trump’s imperialist intervention in Venezuela. These are currently limited to forceful statements in writing, but they could embolden a larger struggle — it’s up to the rank and file to use our unions to organize concrete, decisive action in defense of Venezuela, communities targeted by ICE, and all those who face oppression.

For example, in Minneapolis, a general strike has been called for January 23. The day of action will bring together teachers, transit workers, and several other unions, along with community and faith organizations who are part of the call. As a new union, we should fully support the Minneapolis general strike, and draw inspiration from it for our own struggles to come.

As we have covered regarding the ICE protests, Trump’s attack on Venezuela and the additional possibility of an attack on Iran, and the fight against all the injustices of capitalism, working-class struggle is the path forward for our collective liberation. At the Met, we are now able to participate in that struggle as a unionized workforce, a goal we have been organizing toward for years. Now that we have finally won, let’s not stop. We have nothing to lose and everything to fight for together.

The post The Met Union Wins Biggest Election in Museum’s History appeared first on Left Voice.

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