Where the Money Went by Jack O'Malley (Los Angeles Archivists Collective)

Institutional practices during the pandemic have undermined job stability in more subtle ways as well. In a survey by the Archival Workers Emergency Fund, respondents expressed concern about the elimination and consolidation of positions, reduction of contract lengths, inability to find new positions, and distribution of the impact along gendered and racial lines.

Crowdsourced reporting in Google Docs and mutual aid requests further documents the systemic pattern of furloughs, forced retirements, transfers and pay reductions that have reshaped work in cultural heritage. When institutions needed money during the pandemic, they consistently chose to take it from their most vulnerable employees.

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