Last week, the New York Times reported that nearly two hundred employees at the Whitney Museum of American filed a petition for a unionization vote with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), joining a number of museums across the city and country that have organized in recent years. The proposed bargaining unit would include visitor services and gallery assistants, porters, curators, conservators, editors, educators, and other employees.

Yesterday, the Whitney informed the NLRB of its intent to waive the need for an election, thereby voluntarily recognizing the union — a huge win for its workers, who had been in contact with United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2110 since the museum’s reopening in the fall. Local 2110 represents other prominent New York arts institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the New Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

Jacobin assistant editor Aqsa Ahmad, who worked at the Whitney two years ago as a gallery assistant, spoke to Karissa Francis, a visitor services assistant who’s been at the museum for four years and one of the lead organizers of the union campaign. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.