Brooklyn Museum Management 'Spent Without Thinking,' Says Union Head

It seemed like things were going fine at the Brooklyn Museum. Its celebrity collaborations, even though I didn't like them (Hannah Gadsby's "It's Pablo-Matic" was widely panned by other critics, too) seemed at least superficially successful in getting people through the museum's doors, as did its long-running First Saturdays parties. Plus, the museum had been celebrating its 200th anniversary in style. Whatever nits you could pick about the curation, at least its leadership was keeping the institution alive, right?

Apparently not. On Friday, director Anne Pasternak broke the news to staff that due to what she said was a $10 million deficit in the Brooklyn Museum's budget, management would be conducting layoffs. According to Pasternak, salaries make up 70 percent  of the museum's operational budget, and "headwinds," like inflation. She would know something about that, considering that according to the museum's most recent publicly available 990 tax form, more than $1 million of that budget went to her salary. Hyperallergic reported that as part of the restructurings, leadership would take pay cuts of up to 20 percent. 

Pasternak isn't on the chopping block, but 47 employees found out they were, according to Wilson Souffrant, the president of DC 37 Local 1502, which represents some of the museum's employees, including its guards, technicians and custodians. Others, such as curators and administrative staff, are represented by UAW Local 2110; those workers ratified their first contract at the end of 2023.

In a phone call on Monday, Souffrant placed the blame squarely on museum leadership—according to Souffrant, management decided to spend more and more, even as the museum was only going broker and broker. And now that it's time to pay the piper, it's not those decision-makers who'll pay the price, but senior employees who have, in some cases, worked for the museum for decades.

"It's like when you're drunk—whatever's in your pocket, you just spend it without thinking, because you just want to live for the moment. That's what the Brooklyn Museum did," he told Hell Gate.

When reached for comment, the Brooklyn Museum's director of public relations denied that they violated the contract, and shared a copy of a previously released statement. In it, Pasternak and museum leadership say the layoffs are a result of "a critical, data-driven review of its operations, finances, and program." 

For now, the layoffs are delayed. Souffrant told Hell Gate that after being informed they would be laid off, with their last day being Friday, those 47 employees later found out that the museum was reversing that order because it was in violation of their union contract, which stipulates that the museum has to give them 30 days notice.