Workers at the ICA in Boston opt to unionize – The Boston Globe

Employees at the Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston are gearing up for contract negotiations with the Seaport museum after quietly opting to unionize last month.

Just over 90 employees, in roles ranging from visitor services to development to curation, are now being represented by the UAW Local 2110, a New York-based union, as they prepare to go to the bargaining table, seeking better pay and other job protections.

The ICA voluntarily recognized the union shortly after the workers went to museum leadership in early April, said Maida Rosenstein, UAW Local 2110’s director of organizing. That meant the employees could sidestep a formal election through the National Labor Relations Board and instead conduct a card-counting process.

“That all happened quite quickly,” said Rosenstein.

“Our experience with getting voluntary recognition was that the ICA was reasonable about the process,” she added. “So hopefully that will continue through the bargaining process.”

The next step, Rosenstein said, is for the workers to elect a bargaining committee from among their ranks, and then draw up some specific proposals. “We’re hopeful of being able to be negotiating this summer,” she said.

In a statement, the ICA’s director, Nora Burnett Abrams, who stepped into the top job last May, noted that “our exceptional staff are at the heart of what makes the museum so special.”

“We are voluntarily recognizing our employees’ choice to be represented by a union and view the decision to organize as an expression of their deep dedication to the institution,” Burnett Abrams said. “We look forward to working collaboratively and in good faith with Local UAW 2110 toward a collective agreement.”

The ICA is just the latest local institution to see labor action among its workforce. UAW Local 2110 also represents employees at the MFA Boston, who voted to unionize in 2020 and secured compensation increases and other benefit improvements when they ratified their first contract in 2022. Workers at MASS MoCa in North Adams, the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, and the Portland Museum of Art in Maine are also represented by UAW Local 2110.

Carter Seggev, a 28-year-old events coordinator at the museum, said seeing the MFA go through its own unionization process served as something of a blueprint for the ICA workers.

“It has been a very helpful beginner example, to sort of be like, ‘Oh, yeah, they can do it,’ and especially that scale,” he said.

Rosenstein said a chief concern among workers is improving pay, which is currently “very slightly above minimum wage at the entry level,” she said. Other concerns include protections against layoffs and other “health and safety” provisions, such as adequate rest and seating for visitor-facing employees.

For Seggev, who earns $50,000 a year at the museum, better pay is only one piece of the puzzle. He wants more transparency from museum leadership into policy decisions — and a greater say in the institution’s future.

“I like the ICA a lot. It’s a fun workplace, and I would love to have more of a voice in making sure that everyone is being considered and everyone’s needs are being taken into account,” he said. “For me personally, that’s been the biggest driving force.”

He added that, since workers went public with their organizing efforts, he’s been happy with leadership’s willingness to talk with workers about their aims. He was also encouraged by the museum’s voluntary recognition of the union.

“I know that is a very rare thing, and so far, the communication has been very positive,” he said. “I think everyone’s sort of looking forward to working together to make the ICA better.”

The ICA, which has been housed in a gleaming glass building perched on the waterfront since 2006, had an operating surplus of about $800,000 in the fiscal year that ended in June 2025, according to its latest publicly released financial statements. That was up more than a quarter-million dollars from the previous year.

Dana Gerber can be reached at dana.gerber@globe.com. Follow her @danagerber6.