Employees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have formed a union in association with the AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36.

The workers leading the effort, which they have called LACMA United, said they were being paid wages that haven’t kept up with rising cost of living and that employees needed greater long-term stability. They also called for “fairer compensation, expanded benefits and increased transparency in institutional protocols and resources,” according to a release.

The letter, dated October 29, was addressed to “Our Fellow Coworkers, Executive Team, and Board of Trustees.” In the letter, LACMA United said that “a supermajority of eligible staff across departments” had come together to form the union. LACMA United has requested voluntary recognition of the union by the museum’s executive team and board by November 5.

LACMA did not immediately reply to ARTnews’s request for comment.

The unionization effort comes ahead of the opening of LACMA’s new Peter Zumthor–designed building, which is scheduled for next April. The new building, officially called the David Geffen Galleries, will see the museum’s installation of its permanent collection completely rethought, with works from various time periods and parts of the w...