More than 400 workers at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), a member of Local 535 of the Public Service Employees Union of Ontario (OPSEU/SEFPO), went on strike Tuesday (March 26) over low wages due to the rising cost of living. As a result, the museum has been closed to the public since Tuesday.
According to a statement from the union, after ten months of meetings, negotiations with the museum’s administrators broke down. The union says AGO’s latest offer fails to make significant improvements on key issues, including wage increases and protections against the hiring of precarious part-time workers.
“As public service workers, we were paid during the pandemic,” Paul Ayers, president of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 535, said in a statement. “While fighting a public health crisis and a three-year unconstitutional pay freeze, elite executives made hundreds of thousands. We need a deal that will help us navigate the cost-of-living crisis in Canada’s most expensive city, and this latest AGO offer falls short.”
Notable union members include assistant curators, archivists, food and hospitality workers, researchers, technicians, carpenters, electricians, supervisors, designers and visitor services workers. They rallied outside the museum on Tuesday with slogans including “Show Me the Currency”, “Modern Art, Medieval Wages” and “The Arts Matter, So Do We!”
On March 26, striking workers and their supporters rallied outside the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. Ontario Public Service Employees Union via Facebook
“Many of these workers are themselves artists who contribute to the cultural fabric of the city. Denigrating artists is not how to show the public that art matters,” OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick said in a statement. “The AGO is sending a message that as a prominent cultural institution, it prioritizes the bottom line over people’s livelihoods.”
At stake in the strike are not only the cost-of-living crisis and low wages in the Canadian art world, but also the provincial struggle between labor and the struggle against unions. Doug Ford Ontario premiere. The cultural sector is not immune to this ongoing struggle, as evidenced by the 11-week strike by TVO workers. (TV Ontario) was terminated last November due to similar issues of low wages and temporary work contracts.
The impasse over pay and benefits with workers also comes as the AGO prepares to spend handsomely on a major construction project. The museum will expand to 3,700 square meters with a new $100 million ($73.6 million) contemporary art gallery; $35 million ($25.8 million) of the project’s budget was provided by Canada Goose founder Dani Reiss.
While 2019 was a very different time, it’s worth noting that the annual strike at the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) came on the heels of the Chan family’s announcement of a $40 million gift for a new building. Based on a 2017 declaration by the Pacific Artist-run Centers Association, which publicly supported the striking workers, 202 of VAG’s workers earned less than C$80,000 a year, while the director’s salary was C$350,000.
“The AGO Foundation paid its CEO Stephan Jost more than $390,000 ($287,000) in ‘consulting’ fees between 2020 and 2021 alone, in addition to his $406,000 ($299,000) salary,” says Ayers. “Still no money for wages? The gallery can fully afford to make a better offer.’
In an emailed comment to The Art Newspaper, an AGO spokesperson said: “The AGO is hopeful that we will soon reach a negotiated agreement with OPSEU, ready to negotiate and fully prepared to work constructively with employee representatives to reach a reasonable and fair agreement.” .
The strike follows a scandal last November surrounding the departure of First Nations Commissioner Wanda Nanibush and calls for accountability for alleged support for Palestine.
