Seattle Art Museum Workers Announce Unionization
2May 18, 2026
More than one hundred employees at theSeattle Art Museum(SAM) on May 13 announced their intent to unionize in a letter delivered by organizers to museum director and CEO Scott Stulen, theSeattle Timesreports. The staffers, who are spread across more than twenty front- and back-end departments, are organizing under the name Seattle Art Museum Workers United (SAMWU) under the auspices of the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28. They cited a collective desire to “improve working conditions in alignment with SAM’s mission, vision, and core values” as behind the move.
“The challenges we face, such as unsustainable wages, subpar health benefits, and siloed, top-down decision-making, are undeniable, systemic, and have persisted across administrations,” wrote the group in the letter. Among the benefits SAMWU members are seeking are “sustainable and respectful” wages; just-cause protections; improved health care, PTO, retirement benefits and retention incentives; and a more transparent, collaborative decision-making process across the institution.
The day the missive was delivered, organizers additionally filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board. If the museum voluntarily recognizes the union before May 27, they have said they will withdraw the petition. Stulen confirmed receipt of the letter to the Times.
“Our employees are one of our greatest assets and we have long supported their rights, including the rights to advocate for themselves individually and collectively,” Stulen told the paper. “We look forward to reviewing the letter and we commit to engaging in good faith in all conversations with our employees.”
Eligible employees include those in the marketing, operations, visitor experience, curatorial, education, and development departments, among others. The museum’s security staff organized separately, in 2022, ratifying their inaugural contract in 2024 following a twelve-day strike.
SAM joins the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art as the latest of many US arts institutions whose employees have unionized in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, which brought to light issues including pay disparity, job precarity, and a lack of insurance.