FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2006
Strike could mean
“15 minutes of shame” for Art Gallery of Ontario if
last-minute contract talks fail
TORONTO - Unionized staff at
the Art Gallery of Ontario are set to strike at 12:01 a.m.
Thursday, June 29 if mediation talks scheduled for June 27 -
28 fail to produce a tentative agreement. The strike would
have a major impact on construction of the AGO's new building
and on the major Andy Warhol exhibition scheduled to open next
week.
The members of OPSEU Local 535,
representing about 130 full-time and 130 part-time artists,
assistant curators, conservators, designers, preparators,
educators, technical and maintenance, visitor services, retail
and restaurant staff voted 96 per cent to give the union’s
bargaining team a strike mandate on issues including job
security, salaries and part-time staff concerns. Staff will
hold an information picket June 28 to express their concerns
about bargaining:
When: Wednesday June
28, 2006
Time: 12:00 noon –
1:00 p.m
Where: AGO McCaul St.
entrance, at Dundas
“A strike just before the Andy
Warhol exhibition, and at the peak of Toronto's summer tourist
season, would guarantee the AGO its “15 minutes of fame” – but
for all the wrong reasons,” said local president Barry Taylor.
“AGO management needs to understand that while art matters,
its staff matter, too.”
“These negotiations are all
about saving jobs at the AGO,” Taylor said. “In the last few
years 120 staff have been laid off. More cuts are coming
during the construction. The AGO has simply refused to deal
with personnel issues during this period.”
While raising more than $210
million for its expansion campaign, the AGO is refusing to
consider proposals to reduce job cuts and ensure staff who are
laid off can return to work when the gallery re-opens in 2008.
The union’s last contract expired Nov. 30.
A strike this summer would not
only affect the Andy Warhol exhibition, but also AGO summer
educational programs, the AGO’s annual Art in the Park event
on July 1, and “In Your Face,” an exhibition of 4,000
portraits. The construction schedule could also be set back as
members of the building trades unions are expected to honour
any picket line.
The union and AGO have been
bargaining since November, including five days of meeting with
a conciliator in April and May, without progress. The sides
resume talks June 27-28, just before the strike deadline.
-30-
For more information, please
contact:
Twila Marston, OPSEU
negotiator, (416) 346-7766
David Cox, OPSEU Communications, 416-443-8888 x 8314
