The Buffalo AKG Art Museum plans to lay off 13 unionized visitor experience workers and hire 11 non-union security workers in a move labelled "union busting" by Buffalo AKG Workers United - the union representing a portion of AKG workers.
The AKG claimed the change is an "operational shift" to better balance the museum's needs.
The union held an informational picket outside the AKG to draw attention to the planned personnel changes, Friday.
Organizer Casey Moore with Workers United Upstate which represents the unionized workers, claimed the changes would harm the customer experience.
“If they genuinely cared about improving the visitor experience, they wouldn't be cutting half of their staff, they would be working with us,” Moore said. “They would be investing with the people who actually love this museum, who love this institution, and have given their all to make it the place it is today.”
The union ratified their first contract back in December, so the news came as a shock to 75-year-old Sheila Johnston, who was informed she would be losing her job.
"It's a loss of income. It's a loss of spending time with people - I'm going to try not to cry- that I've really grown very close to over the past two years,” Johnston said, holding back tears. "I work with people who are in their 20s, it's not an age group I ever would have gotten to know, and it's been very energizing for me, sort of a whole different world view. So, it's going to be a big loss in my life.”
Johnston claimed she had never had a performance review in her two years working at the museum, nor had she been "written up" for an infraction.
Andrea Harden, The AKG’s Director of Talent and Culture, denied union busting, and said the 11 new security personnel are needed to guard the art so the remaining visitor experience staff are free to fully engage with visitors.
She added that the layoffs are not performance related, but are instead based on a rubric that accounts for staff availability and hours, among other criteria.
"I wanna be very clear that this is in no way any type of retaliation or any kind of outreach. Any time we have to do something like this, this is not something easy to do," Harden said.
Harden explained that the visitor experience personnel, known as internally as VEX staff, currently hold a dual role combining visitor engagement with security duties.
Engaging with visitors is "probably 80% of the job" according to Harden. The remaining 20% involves security tasks, ensuring the safety of artwork and assets.
However, Harden said internal data showed this divided focus limited VEX staff's ability to fully engage with visitors, and security will now be handled separately by preservation and safety personnel.
The planned layoffs are due to take effect April 3rd.
