The Art Gallery of Ontario is closed today as more than 400 museum workers are striking for better pay and more reliable work contracts.
Members of the OPSEU/SEFPO Union rejected a deal from their employer on Monday night, after ten months of bargaining.
The union says that the offer fails to make meaningful improvements on key issues, including wage increases and protections against contracting out for precarious part-time workers.
Following the vote to strike, The AGO announced on X that the museum would be out of operation due to a “labour disruption,” and that it hoped it could be resolved soon, but did not provide any further information.
In a statement released early Tuesday morning, museum workers said their paychecks suffered during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and through “three years of unconstitutional wage freezes,” while senior executives continued to receive hefty salaries.
“We need a deal that helps us stay afloat in a cost-of-living crisis in the most expensive city in Canada – and the AGO’s latest offer falls short of that,” Paul Ayers, president of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 535, said.
Similarly, OPSEU/SEFPO President, JP Hornick said the AGO’s actions show that as a “prominent cultural institution, it prioritizes the bottom line over peoples’ livelihood.”
The union says the gallery is “shortchanging its long-term and loyal staff” members by producing an offer that is not in line with present-day wages.
According to the union, The AGO Foundation paid its CEO, Stephan Jost, over $390,000 in consulting fees between 2020 and 2021 on top of a $406,000 salary. “Yet there’s no money for wages? The gallery can absolutely afford to bring forward a better offer,” Ayers concluded.
Striking members include assistant curators, archivists, food and hospitality staff, researchers, technicians, carpenters, electricians, instructors, designers, visitor services staff, and more.
The union is calling on community members to email Jost and demand a fair deal for workers.
It is unknown when the union and the gallery will meet again for negotiations.
