The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, previously known as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, is facing backlash after laying off 13 employees and reorganizing staff to remove union positions. The union representing employees in the visitor experience, facilities management, and food services departments, Buffalo AKG Workers United, has accused the museum of retaliating against staff organizing efforts by eliminating union roles in favor of hiring non-union positions.
The museum has not yet responded to requests for comments regarding the recent staff changes. These layoffs come after more than a year of unionization efforts at the AKG, which resulted in the first contract being signed in December. The layoffs are expected to affect three full-time and 10 part-time VEX workers, according to Casey Moore, organizing director of Workers United Upstate NY.
Since staff began organizing, the VEX department, which includes front desk representatives, gallery attendants, and daily operations volunteers, will be reduced by more than half. This follows a previous round of layoffs that impacted 15 VEX staffers. The museum recently posted job listings for non-union security guard positions, further fueling accusations of union busting by the AKG.
Andrea Harden, the museum’s director of talent and culture, stated that the staff changes were based on operational experiences since the AKG reopened after a $230 million expansion and renovation. Harden claimed that the role of the Visitor Experience Associate was not functioning as expected, leading to the operational changes.
In response to the layoffs, museum workers and community members rallied outside the AKG during its First Friday programming. They called on the museum’s director to halt the layoffs and accused AKG officials of taking advantage of recent staff cuts at the National Labor Relations Board. Similar criticisms have been voiced by workers at the Brooklyn Museum and the Guggenheim Museum, both of which have announced layoffs in the face of budget deficits.
Tayia Woolford, an employee at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, expressed disappointment over losing her role in the VEX department. She described feeling abandoned by the museum during a housing crisis. The ongoing controversy surrounding the AKG’s staff changes highlights the challenges faced by workers in the arts and cultural sector.
