The Art Gallery of Ontario, where I work, has two unions.  CAW (Canadian
Auto Workers) for our security staff, and OPSEU (Ontario Public Service
Employees Union) for the rest of the staff except, of course, management &
certain executive assistants & finance staff.  The result?  Perhaps the best
salaries in our field in the country.



At 04:43 PM 7/28/98 -0500, you wrote:
>This last comment sparked a question that I have been meaning to ask --
>how many of you are employed by or know of a non-profit or museum that
>has a union for its employees?
>
>The institution I work for has been presented with a petition from
>employees to unionize -- an official vote is just weeks away.  Based on
>the research I have done (unions, National Labor Relations Act, SEIU
>local 46, etc.) -- a union would not be in the best interest of a
>non-profit arts organization nor its employees.
>
>What are some of your thoughts?
>
>DeAnn Gould
>
>        -----Original Message-----
>        From:   Ross Weeks [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>        Sent:   Tuesday, July 28, 1998 4:06 PM
>        To:     [log in to unmask]
>        Subject:        Re: The Value of an M.A. - $7.25/hr?
>
>        I agree entirely with Elizabeth and some others.  Yes, museums
>"ought" to
>        try to pay more.  Many "ought" to learn to get by with fewer
>staff, and pass
>        the savings on to those whose positions are essential.
>Hundreds can afford
>        only one staff member, not always fulltime.  These are
>wonderfully rewarding
>        places for a professional to work.
>
>        No, it's not simply a matter of trustees raising more money, as
>someone
>        suggested.  There are too many cultural organizations in most
>communities
>        competing for the same pool of philanthropy.  Yes, lots of our
>most
>        thoughtful trustees and donors COULD give lots more money.  So
>could
>        corporations.  They probably won't, and never have.
>
>        To encourage museum people to organize, in the fashion of
>dockworkers and
>        coalminers,  as one writer suggested,  will simply shut many of
>our
>        institutions down.
>
>
>
>
>        -----Original Message-----
>        From: Elizabeth Stith <[log in to unmask]>
>        Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
>        To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>        Date: Tuesday, July 28, 1998 12:25 PM
>        Subject: Re: The Value of an M.A. - $7.25/hr?
>
>
>        >I really disagree with the idea that museums do not value the
>degree - or
>        whatever level of education - their employees have.  I do know
>that funding
>        always hase been and always will be problematic for all but a
>rarified few
>        of us.  It seems to me that in most museums staff are paid to
>the best
>        ability of the organization.  I have never experienced anything
>else.  If
>        people new to the field feel that starting salaries are too low
>then I
>        invite them to rethink their choosen careers.  I made a decision
>many years
>        ago that related to the quality of my life and one part of that
>decision was
>        an understanding that I was never going to make a fortune doing
>what I want
>        to do.  It's called life.
>
>
Kelly McKinley
Education Department
Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 1G4
Canada
PH: (416) 979-6660 ext.268
FAX: (416) 979-6674
E-MAIL: [log in to unmask]