MEDIA ADVISORY - Art Gallery of Ontario Workers Rally Ahead of Potential Strike: "The arts matter. So do we!"

TORONTO, March 13, 2024 /CNW/ - Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) workers will hold a rally outside gallery doors Wednesday evening, drawing attention to a strike deadline looming later this month.

While the AGO claims "leading with contemporary relevance" as a core value, the gallery is setting workers further back.

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“The arts matter, and so do we” – Art Gallery of Ontario workers rally as strike countdown begins. (CNW Group/Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO))

Over 430 workers at the AGO, members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 535, may be on strike as of 12:01 a.m. on March 25^th over prolonged issues of contracting out and the AGO's failure to put a wage offer in front of members after 10 months of bargaining. These workers were hit hard by the financial loss of wage suppression under the now-repealed Bill 124. They are now asking for a deal that helps them keep up with a cost-of-living crisis in the most expensive city in Canada. While the AGO claims "leading with contemporary relevance" as a core value, the gallery is setting workers further back.

WHAT: Cultural workers rally for fair compensation and protections against contracting out.
WHO: AGO workers (spanning various departments and roles, including: programming, handling of art, studio and technician work, course instruction, retail, food and hospitality); OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick; MPP Jill Andrews; OPSEU/SEFPO Region 5 President Coleen Houlder; OPSEU/SEFPO members; local artists and community allies.
WHEN: Wednesday, March 13^th, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Front doors of the Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON

"If we claim the arts matter, we must allow value the workers that make that possible," said Paul Ayers, President of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 535. "We keep the gallery doors open and the lights on: we are curators, researchers, technicians, designers, electricians, carpenters, instructors, and more. Many of us are artists in our own right. Without us, there would be no public delivery of the arts."

"The AGO is breaking ground on a $100 million addition with the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery yet can't prioritize discussing fair compensation for workers," added Ayers. "Some of us have worked here for decades. Over time, we have seen the gallery turn towards contracting out labour and increasingly relying on part-time, precarious work. It's getting harder to make a decent living as an employee of the AGO."

"Prestige and expansion can't come at the cost of worker precarity," said JP Hornick, OPSEU/SEFPO President. "These workers want a future at the gallery and a contract that makes that future possible – not a CEO that tells loyal staff they're replaceable while collecting a $406,000 salary. This is not how we show the public that the arts, and artists, matter. Maybe the AGO needs a reminder."

SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO)

Vic Wojciechowska, OPSEU/SEFPO Communications, [phone], [email protected]