Jacob Saavedra had to rely on donations from co-workers and friends to get by after he woke up from a five-week coma in February 2025.

Though he had been a customer service representative at the National Hispanic Cultural Center for four years, he was classified as a temporary “executive other” employee by the state, meaning he did not have the same benefits as many of his colleagues, including not having annual leave or sick leave.

“I had nothing to fall back on,” Saavedra said.

Saavedra returned to work in a wheelchair and on oxygen. He still deals with the impact of the acute respiratory distress syndrome that led to the coma and ensuing organ failure: permanent lung damage and partial paralysis in one of his legs.

“It was very difficult … and yet, I still came back here,” he said. “And I would think that counts for something, but the state doesn’t really seem to think so.”

Saavedra is one of 12 executive other, or “EXOT,” employees at the Albuquerque institution, which is under the state Department of Cultural Affairs, who have been pushing to unionize and gain full benefits since 2024. In May, amid a lengthy legal battle between the state and Communications Workers of America Local 7076, the Public Employee Labor Relations Board issued a unanimous order for the workers, who had all been at the National Hispanic Cultural Center for longer than a year, to be allowed to unionize and be provided compensatory damages “related to the improper denial of classified benefits.”

The decision was also to apply to the center’s newer executive other employees once they completed a year of work, the state’s standard probationary period.

Still, the workers’ union membership cards have not been processed. The state is working to appeal the Public Employee Labor Relations Board’s decision to state District Court, according to CWA 7076 President Megan Green.

“Nothing has changed from our initial response, we have no comment on matters under pending litigation,” Greg Gurulé, a spokesperson for the state Department of Cultural Affairs, wrote in an email to The New Mexican.

The Governor’s Office offered a similar comment.

“We respect the judicial process and will let it run its course,” spokesperson Leah March wrote.

‘Temporary’?

The National Hispanic Cultural Center, situated on 20 acres along the Rio Grande, opened in 2000 as a hub for Hispanic arts, culture and humanities. It features an art museum, a library, a theater and more.

There are 19 employees not classified as “executive other” at the center who are already in the CWA 7067 union, according to Green. There are about 20 additional staff members in management or human relations roles who are not in the union.

Each “executive other” employee interviewed by The New Mexican said they love their job. Each also pointed to a time during their tenure when sick leave or paid time off would have made a world of difference, such as for a stroke, a family member’s funeral or a severe illness.

Set and exhibit designer Adri De La Cruz, who has worked at the center since 2023, sustained a concussion while on the job last year but their “executive other” status — a designation that typically applies to temporary or seasonal employees — meant they didn’t qualify for workers’ compensation.

Such employees at the center also do not receive health insurance or retirement benefits.

“I work for the state of New Mexico, I receive a W-2 from the state of New Mexico, and I’m not offered any of the benefits that other people are offered because I’m ‘temp,’ ” De La Cruz said. “I’ve been there for three years.”

De La Cruz and other employees at the center designated “executive other” typically operate on one-year terms. At the end of each cycle, these terms are renewed.

The formula is by design, Green said: The state claims employees with the designation are not considered public employees under the Public Employees Bargaining Act, so they aren’t allowed to join a union.

“You may be calling these people temporary on paper, but we believe if they have been at the state for more than a year — which is how long the probationary period is at the state — then essentially they are regular employees,” Green said. “They should have a right to a union.”

Rosemary Gallegos, a front-of-house representative who is leading the charge on the union fight, said she has never doubted she will be brought back after each one-year term. Gallegos has worked at the National Hispanic Cultural Center for nearly 22 years.

“I actually now have had a full career as a state employee, but on these temporary contracts, we do not receive any retirement benefits, healthcare, annual or sick leave,” she said. “I love what I do, which is why I’ve stayed there this many years.”

But, Gallegos said, she should be “retiring right now, with full benefits.”

“I kind of became the poster child for … the kids coming in, because I want it to be better for them and give them the benefits that have been lacking all these years,” Gallegos said, referring to her fellow employees.

Randy Gomez, a certified rigger who has worked at the center since 2020, could not work for almost five months after he had a stroke 2½ years ago. Without benefits or his paycheck, “I might as well not even have had a job at that point,” Gomez said.

After he recovered and began working 40-plus hours per week, he said, he lost Medicaid coverage because his salary was too high. Gomez still does not have health insurance.

“I want to get the benefits that I deserve because I’m doing full-time work just like everybody else,” he said.

Timeline, what’s next

The cultural center’s “executive other” employees did not always lack benefits. But in 2024, the only ones they had — sick leave and annual leave — were suddenly no longer included in their contracts, Green said.

All of the workers submitted signed union membership cards to the Public Employee Labor Relations Board. The State Personnel Office approved the workers to be covered by CWA 7076’s union contract, but later refused to process the cards, Green said.

CWA 7076 then filed a prohibited practice complaint, kick-starting a Public Employee Labor Relations Board process that led to the May order that the workers be allowed union rights.

It is unclear how long the state’s appeal of that order will take and what the outcome will be. Gallegos believes it is a way to stall until the next gubernatorial administration takes office in January, she said. New Mexico voters on Tuesday will elect either Democrat Deb Haaland or Republican Gregg Hull as governor.

In fiscal year 2026, one out of 10 of judicial appeals of Public Employee Labor Relation Boards orders led to reversals, according to the broad’s appropriation request for fiscal year 2028.

Though the workers hope for action over the next two months, they are also looking toward the next governor, spreading the word about the situation at a recent rally in Albuquerque.

“We wouldn’t still be here if we didn’t care about it,” De La Cruz said. “We are here and we are fighting for our legal rights to stay in the place where we are and to continue doing the job that we have.”

Lily Alexander is a state accountability reporter for The New Mexican and Searchlight New Mexico, focusing on equity and transparency. Her position is part of the New Mexican Public Service Journalism Fund, and her stories are available to all readers without a paywall.

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