Moore College of Art & Design staff announce intention to form a union

Staff at Moore College of Art & Design on Thursday informed the school’s president that they intend to form a union and requested that the group be recognized.

Faculty at the approximate 500-student college in Philadelphia are already unionized.

The new union would cover about 50 part-time and full-time staff across the Philadelphia-based art college and be part of the United Academics of Philadelphia.

» READ MORE: Moore College will consider opening undergraduate programs to men

The staff are asking the college to voluntarily recognize the union, noting that a majority of staff signed cards, according to a news release from the United Academics, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers.

“We have long had a very strong and mutually productive relationship with our staff and faculty,” Moore College President Cathy Young said in a statement. “We just learned about this request from a group of staff members this afternoon and assured them we would look into it further.”

The group is giving the college until March 30 to respond, and if the group is not recognized, staff plan to file with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, which would lead to an election.

» READ MORE: How the UArts closure transformed Moore College of Art & Design, the last art-centered college in Philly

“I take pride in working with the amazing staff, faculty, and students at Moore,” Amanda Zeilinger, a 2D technician said in the press release. “I hope to work here for a long time, but without wage improvements it’s just not financially feasible.”

“A union contract,” she said, “would allow us to protect and improve the benefits that full-time staff already have, and also expand them to part-time staff.”

Staff are unionized at other local colleges, including Temple University, Community College of Philadelphia, and Rutgers, United Academics noted.

Moore staff are concerned about wages, parental leave, workload, gender and racial equity and diversity, job security, and benefits for part-time staff and “clear promotional procedures,” United Academics said.

“As a proud union for Moore faculty for over 50 years, the Moore Federation of Teachers fully supports the Moore staff’s effort to unionize and engage in their right to collectively bargain,” Steve Wood, Moore Federation of Teachers president, said in the news release.

Moore, a 177-year-old arts school, announced in February it would consider opening its undergraduate programs to men. A decision is expected by June.

Moore officials had said they were making the decision from a position of financial and academic “strength,” noting the school has had operating surpluses for the last 24 consecutive years.

This year’s enrollment is the school’s second highest behind fall 2024, when the college accepted 112 students from the University of the Arts, which abruptly closed in June 2024.