Alarmed by Trump, Kennedy Center Workers Push to Unionize

Since President Trump took control of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts earlier this year, his administration has scaled back some programs there and fired nearly 40 employees.

Those changes have unnerved many of the center’s administrative staff members, who work in programming, education, marketing, fund-raising, public relations and other areas. Now, seeking greater protection for their jobs, more than 90 of them are leading a push to unionize, they announced on Thursday.

The employees, calling themselves the Kennedy Center United Arts Workers, said in a statement that they were concerned by the Trump administration’s efforts to “dismantle mission-essential departments and reshape our arts programming without regard to the interests of program funders, philanthropists, national partners and the audiences we serve.

“We demand,” the statement continued, “transparent and consistent terms for hiring and firing, a return to ethical norms, freedom from partisan interference in programming, free speech protections and the right to negotiate the terms of our employment.”

A push to unionize is likely to escalate tensions at the center, which has been in flux since Mr. Trump purged its previously bipartisan board of Biden appointees and had himself elected chairman in February. The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Trump administration has previously defended cost-cutting efforts, saying the center is in poor financial health and must scale back to survive. Mr. Trump recently requested $257 million from Congress for capital repairs and other expenses there, according to lawmakers; the funding is still being discussed.