Public Employee Press

Met Museum workers ratify a new contract

Members of Metropolitan Museum of Art Local 1503 voted 298-85 in a mail ballot counted April 19 by the impartial American Arbitration Association to approve a new contract that protects their health and pension benefits and gives them an extra vacation day.

The year long bargaining was tougher than usual as the museum brought an outside lawyer into the talks, a move that union negotiators saw as a reflection of the anti-union climate in the country.

"It got hot and heavy," said Local 1503 President Fabian Berenbaum. Management initially pushed for health-care givebacks and the local sought pension enhancements, but both sides backed off such major demands to arrive at a reasonable settlement.

Local 1503 represents more than 750 Met employees, mostly Security Guards and maintenance and technical workers. The pact runs from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2014.

The workers will now get 16 days of vacation a year during their first three years; 21 after three years; 26 after eight years and 28 after 15 years. The administration will now have five days rather than three to grant vacation requests. The workers gave up a half-hour check-cashing break and must now work five days rather than three to earn temporary extra out-of-title pay.

Senior Analyst David Moog of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept. headed up the negotiations. Besides Berenbaum, the Local 1503 negotiating team included Vice President Oswald Forney, Recording Secretary Dan McCabe, and the chapter vice presidents, Walter Goosby (buildings), Robert Oberkehr (The Cloisters), Ola Ogunbodede (security) and Brooks Shaver (technicians), with assistance from retired Rep John Jordan, a former local president, and Senior Assistant General Counsel Steven Sykes.