John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts employees announced Thursday their plan to unionize.
The union will be called the “Kennedy Center United Arts Workers,” or the KCUAW, and will be in partnership with The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, or the UAW, according to an Instagram post.
About 60% of eligible employees have signed up to be in the union, and organizers have submitted the request to form the union to the National Labor Relations Board. The board will then notify the Kennedy Center’s management team that a request for a union has been made, according to The Washington Post.
Employees say they’re unionizing in response to President Donald Trump’s leadership takeover at the Kennedy Center in February.
“The Kennedy Center’s new management has communicated its intention to radically alter the Center’s programming priorities, eliminate staff, and dismantle our mission-essential programs,” the KCUAW website said.
The president made himself chairman after firing members of the board of trustees.
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” Trump wrote on his social media website.
“We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!”
Trump also indicated in February that he would be dictating programming at one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions, specifically declaring that he would end events featuring performers in drag.
Trump’s announcement came as the Republican president made sweeping changes across official Washington during the first weeks of his second term, trying to shutter federal agencies, freeze spending and end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the government.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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