AGO closed as strike impacting over 400 workers continues
Posted March 27, 2024 6:51 am.
Last Updated March 27, 2024 8:58 am.
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) will remain closed on Wednesday due to an ongoing labour disruption affecting over 400 workers.
“Today, the AGO is closed due to a labour disruption. We remain hopeful that we will reach a negotiated agreement with OPSEU soon,” reads a statement on the AGO’s website.
On Tuesday, more than 400 AGO workers, including curators, designers, technicians, and front desk staff, walked off the job to strike in hopes of meaningfully improving key issues, including wage increases and protections against contracting out for precarious part-time workers.
“As public service employees, we were hit right in the paycheque during the pandemic,” said Paul Ayers, President of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 535.
“While we struggled through a public health crisis and three years of unconstitutional wage freezes, elite executives made hundreds of thousands. 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.”
Some striking workers gathered outside the AGO at 317 Dundas St. W. at 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
The labour dispute comes amid challenging financial times for the AGO, one of North America’s most prominent art museums. The AGO has not seen its attendance return to pre-pandemic levels and is currently dealing with a deficit believed to be around $1 million.
