Denver Art Museum workers ratify first union contract for Colorado museum employees

Denver Art Museum Workers United ratified a historic bargaining agreement on Saturday, becoming the first museum workers in the State of Colorado to have a union contract.

The contract is the result of nearly two years of negotiations between the union's bargaining committee and museum management. 

Pam Skiles, Senior Paintings Conservator, said, "It feels great to ratify our first contract and improve working conditions for our coworkers across the museum. We will only continue to build on these wins into the future."

The union says the new three-year contract includes agreements on equitable pay, just cause rights, increased sick time, and updated policies on health and safety and parental leave.  

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, says this contract "sets the stage for further cultural organizing in the state."

AFL-CIO said, "Now that DAMWU has a ratified agreement, the workers of the art museum join Jefferson County Public Library, as well as the more than 50,000 other cultural workers across the country who are building a national movement to raise employment standards in the cultural sector through AFSCME's Cultural Workers United."