Layoffs avoided at the Brooklyn Museum, unions say, workers to be offered ‘voluntary separation package’

Planned layoffs of unionized employees at the Brooklyn Museum will be avoided under a deal struck between labor unions and museum leadership on Sunday, though the long-term future of their jobs remains unclear.

The museum will offer voluntary separation or retirement packages to workers who had been slated to be laid off, according to DC37, one of two unions representing museum employees. Those “separation packages” will include three weeks of pay for every year of service, a letter of reference from museum leadership, and four months of COBRA health insurance, paid for by the museum. 

“We secured an agreement that is fair and results in no layoffs for our members,” said DC37 executive director Henry Garrido, in a statement. “The outcome of these negotiations is a testament to the power of union representation — when we fight together, we win. We will continue pushing for sustainable funding for the city’s cultural institutions.”

The package will only be offered to the 40 affected employees who were represented by either DC37 or UAW Local 2110; a museum spokesperson confirmed. A total of 47 workers were told they would be laid off, and the seven non-union employees were laid off effective Feb. 7. 

Representatives from DC37 and UAW did not immediately return requests for comment. 

The layoffs were announced last month, as director Ann Pasternak told employees the museum was facing a $10 million budget shortfall and would have to implement a number of cost-cutting measures. 

Union leaders pushed back, claiming the museum had violated its contract by not providing enough advanced notice about the cuts. At a Feb. 28 oversight hearing at the City Council, Garrido said museum executives were unwilling to implement furloughs or other measures to avoid layoffs.

On March 6, three days before the cuts were to take effect, they were delayed to March 16 after the Council indicated it might give the museum millions of dollars in additional funding in the coming fiscal year. Almost all of the roughly $10 million the city gave the museum last year was used to cover the salaries of DC37 employees. 

Even if the extra funding could not save all the employees, the delay would at least give the unions and the museum more time to find other sources of finding and figure out how to handle the deficit, UAW Local 2110 rep Maida Rosenstein told Brooklyn Paper last week. 

In a statement, a Brooklyn Museum rep said the museum had “engaged in good faith negotiations” with DC37 and UAW since the layoffs were announced last month, and was “pleased” to have reached a the voluntary separation agreement. 

It was not clear Tuesday if the Council was still considering allocating the extra funding. On March 12, the body Committee on Finance is set to meet to approve “the new designation and changes in the designation of certain organizations to receive funding in the Expense Budget.”

Update 3/11/25, 2:53 p.m.: This story has been updated with comment from the Brooklyn Museum. 

Update 3/11/25, 4:15 p.m.: This story has been updated with additional information regarding non-union employees.