More than 400 Art Gallery of Ontario employees are on strike after union members voted to reject the museum's latest contract offer. Workers in the picket line are carrying signs saying "Show me the Monet," as they hope Gallery leaders will cave to their demands of better pay and working conditions.

Old Toronto

Hundreds of employees at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) are currently on strike. The action follows a decision by union members to reject the museum's latest contract offer. 

The striking workers have been seen on the picket lines carrying signs with slogans such as "Show me the Monet," indicating their demands for improved pay and working conditions. They are hopeful that the gallery's leadership will respond positively to these demands.



Hundreds of Art Gallery of Ontario employees strike

Show me the Monet. I think that really paints a picture of what this strike is really all about. AGO workers from gallery curators to carpenters are on strike after negotiations fell apart after 10 months. The union representing 400 AGO workers rejected their employer's latest offer. Wages are a major sticking point saying they haven't kept up with the cost of living. We need a wage that reflects our respect and value to actually live and work here. Over 60% of our members are part-time. So we have a workforce that's emerging 40 and under, 35 and under and they're having to work multiple jobs. They're fully university educated and they want to be able to do their best work and have a career. Unionized workers also take issue with the AGO's expansion plans with a project estimated to cost about $100 million while their wages as they see it stagnate. How can you have 100 odd million dollars and not look to your employees and think well maybe we should make sure they're fine too. We don't get it. Shut it down. I've got to give you a super cut of some of the picket signs here. Modern art, medieval wages, 90s fashion, not 90s wages and one saying their demands are falling on deaf ears. And yeah, that's a Van Gogh cameo. I mean creatives are going to create even on strike. No wages, no art. I'm an art handler and an exhibition installer. It's really hard to find full-time work. Work is really precarious. We're working on these short-term contracts. We don't know, the work isn't consistent. I think that they know that they're the biggest game in town and that they know that they can push people around, right? For its part, the AGO has not commented on the workers demands or on this strike action at all. They only say that they hope to come to a resolution soon, but until then the AGO remains closed. Ali Chiasso, CBC News, Toronto.

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