local
During PMA Strike,
Jewish Union
Members Helped
Lead Charge
D Photos by Sasha Rogelberg
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
uring the Philadelphia Museum
of Art’s press preview of its
Matisse in the 1930s exhibit
the week of Oct. 10, the chants of work-
ers were clear, even amid the din of
honking horns and the rhythmic beat of
drums and tambourines: “No contract,
no peace! No contract, no Matisse!”
For 19 days, striking workers holding
picket signs marched outside the muse-
um’s two entrances. Th ough the union
is composed of almost 200 members
— of the museum’s 350 staff members
— Jewish members make up a vocal and
passionate contingent.

Members of PMA’s union, an affi liate
of AFSCME DC47, had negotiated with
museum management for two years,
since the union’s inception in 2020.

On Sept. 26, the union called for a
strike aft er a one-day “warning” strike on
Sept. 16. On Oct. 16, the museum union
and management reached an agreement
and ratifi ed a contract to give workers a
14% increase in wages over three years,
retroactively from July; an increased
minimum wage from $15 to $16.75; “lon-
gevity pay” to refl ect years of service to
the museum; and cheaper health care
options, according to the PMA union
Twitter. Th e strike is suspended.

“We believe that this agreement and
our investment in people across the orga-
nization is the right thing to do, works for
everyone and establishes a way forward for
the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s future,
the foundation of which is its staff ,” said
PMA Director and CEO Sasha Suda in an
Oct. 14 PMA press release.

For some Jewish PMA union mem-
bers, their identity as organizers, work-
ers and striking members is inextricable
from their Jewish identities.

“I feel the most connected to my
Judaism when I’m in my community,
and I see the union at work as my com-
munity at work,” member Elizabeth
Harlowe said.

Other Jewish union members con-
nected their values of justice and tikkun
olam with their strike participation.

“It always felt like a Jewish value to put
your values into action, so unionizing is a
way to do that,” member Emma Perloff said.

Perloff sees similarities between labor
organizing and the Jewish practice of
“communal care.”
“We have it literally built into our
religion with things like shiva, that the
community shows up for each other, and
that’s what unionizing feels like to me,”
she said.

Many of those involved in labor orga-
nizing in the Philadelphia Jewish com-
munity come from a lineage of labor
organizing, which further entrenches
union work in their Jewish identities.

“My great-grandmother was part of the
International Ladies Garment Workers
Union, and, to me, connecting to my
Judaism also happens when I connect to
my ancestry,” Perloff said. “Striking feels
like a way to connect to my ancestors
and, therefore, my Judaism.”
Zoe Cohen, a higher education union
organizer with United Academics of
Philadelphia, who worked at the PMA
for several years, believes that Jewish
people were the backbone of many labor
unionizing eff orts in the last century.

“Part of why Jews were so much a part
of the labor organizing landscape in the
early 20th century was because the work-
places that needed representation and
protections the most were the workplaces
where Jews were working,” Cohen said.

Th ese industries included factories and
mills. Th e ILGWU, which gained public-
ity following the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory fi re, was made up of mostly
women and immigrant workers, such as
Perloff ’s great-grandmother. Many Jewish
members had familiarity with labor orga-
nizing because of their experiences with
Bundist practices in Eastern Europe.

In 1934, Jewish members of the large
z Bring this ad. Take 17% off any item not on sale.

Certain restrictions apply. Offer ends November 12, 2022
All the
right angles
7 1 %
The Sweater Mill
115 S. York Road, Hatboro 215.441.8966 Open Monday-Saturday 11-4
PMA Union striking workers marched with picket signs outside of the
museum’s two entrances for 19 days.

New York unions formed the Jewish
Labor Committee, which, during World
War II, helped raise money for Eastern
European partisan forces and convinced
American Federation of Labor President
William Green to arrange for temporary
emergency visas for thousands of German
people fi ghting Nazism, according to
Philadelphia Jewish Labor Committee
board member Sylvia Lieberman.

As industries evolved and some Jews
gained wealth, Lieberman fears that
Jewish union involvement has waned.

But Cohen believes that, if this is true,
that might not be such a bad thing.

“People of color are predominantly the
demographic in the city that need protec-
tion, that need better pay,” Cohen said.

“Th e vast majority of low-wage workers
in the city are Black and brown people.”
Th ough she believes that union lead-
ership should refl ect the majority of its
membership, Jews, particularly white
Jews, are still obligated to show up and
show support, Cohen said.

“Th e strength of the unions that I have
worked with and that I have been in soli-
darity with is that everyone is fi ghting for
each other,” she said. “Th at is the defi ni-
tion of solidarity.” JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
5