More than 10 months of a labor contract dispute between a nonprofit San Francisco museum operator and its employee union group appears to have come to an end with a tentative agreement reached today, museum officials said.
The Corporation of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which operates M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, said today they will provide about 100 Service Employees International Union Local 1021 employees a “double-digit” pay hike in the tentative contract.
Today’s deal will also require many union workers to make a minimal contribution to their own health care coverage for the first time, according to museum officials.
Museum officials have agreed not to discuss the specifics of the contract until union members have a chance to review it.
The contract deal is expected to be finalized next week by SEIU Local 1021, which represents museum technicians, retail workers, artisans and other positions.
The previous union contract expired in July.
The contract dispute became well publicized after worker demonstrations broke out at the two museums throughout the summer.
The most recent 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.
Union representatives had said the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco had misrepresented facts during contract discussions to withhold wages and benefits to employees.
Sasha Lekach ,Bay City News
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