Museum workers ended a year of conflict with two prominent San Francisco museums today with a vote to ratify a new contract.
Members of the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 voted 97 percent to ratify a contract with the Corporation of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the operator of the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum and the Legion of Honor, according to the union.
The new contract gives the more than 90 employees in the union a 10-18 percent pay hike over three years, including an immediate 3 percent raise, according to the union.
Union members will also be required for the first time to contribute toward their health care, on a sliding scale of $25 a month for employees, $50 for one dependent and $75 for families. Those rates will rise over the life of the contract, the union said.
The previous contract covering museum technicians, retail workers, artisans and other positions expired in July, and union members voted to strike in August. However, negotiations had been in process for more than a year, according to the union.
The contract dispute became well publicized after worker demonstrations broke out at the two museums.
The most notable incident led to the arrest of 19 protesters at “Friday Nights at the de Young Museum” on Sep. 7 when protesters blocked the entrance of the museum that evening and were cited by police on suspicion of trespassing.
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